PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


j    Shelf. ■■  Xianbei 


Dh-isim .,  Ji.  ^ . ).  .1 .  J  / 


r^' 


THE 

HISTORY    OF    JOSHUA 

VIEWED   IN 

CONNECTION  WITH  THE  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  CANAAN, 

AND  THE  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  TIMES  IN 

WHICH  HE  LIVED. 


BY   THE 

REV.    THORNLEY    SMITH, 

ACTHOR   OF    'THE   HISTORY   OF   JIOSES,'   ETC. 


THIRD  EDITION. 


NEW    YORK: 

THOMAS    NELSON    AND    SONS, 

42   BLEECKER   STREET. 

1875. 


MURRAY  AND  GIBB,  EDINBURGH, 
PRINTERS  TO  HER  MAJESTY'S  STATIONERY  OFFICE, 


PEEFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


Since  tlie  publication  of  the  First  Edition  of  this  work,  several 
attacks  have  been  made  on  some  of  the  Historical  Books  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  especially  on  the  Pentateuch  and  the 
Books  of  Joshua.  But  these  books  have  stood  the  test,  and  it 
may  be  safely  affirmed  that  they  rest  upon  as  firm  a  basis  as 
ever,  and  one  from  which  future  criticism  will  not  remove  them. 
In  the  Keil  and  DeHtzsch  series  of  translations,  pubhshed 
by  the  Messrs.  Clark,  another  Commentary  on  Joshua  has 
appeared,  similar  in  character  to  the  larger  work  to  which 
frequent  reference  is  made  in  these  pages.  The  writer  says: 
"Even  if  the  Book  of  Joshua  was  not  composed  till  some  time 
after  the  events  recorded  (and  the  authorship  cannot  be  deter- 
mined with  certainty),  this  does  not  affect  its  historico-jproijlietic 
character^  for  both  the  contents  and  form  of  the  book  show  it  to 
be  an  independent  and  simple  work,  composed  with  historical 
fidehty,  and  a  work  which  is  as  thoroughly  pervaded  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  revelation  as  the  Pentateuch  itself," 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 

On  the  standing  still  of  the  sun,  the  writer  makes  no  reference 
to  Keil's  interpretation  in  the  larger  work,  but  speaks  of  it  as 
an  optical  stoppage  of  the  sun,  or  rather  a  continuance  of  the 
visibility  of  the  sun  above  the  horizon,  by  celestial  phenomena 
which  are  altogether  unknown  to  us,  or  to  naturalists  in  general. 
I  confess,  however,  that  I  still  lean  to  the  view  given  in  this 
volume  ;  nor  do  I  see  any  reason  for  alteration  in  other  parti- 
culars of  importance.  The  work  is  re-issued  with  the  hope  that 
it  will  still  commend  itself  to  the  judgment  of  careful  readers  of 
the  word  of  God,  and  be  found  a  help  in  the  study  of  this 
portion  of  inspired  Scripture. 

T.  S. 

Octoler  28, 1869. 


PEEFACE. 


A  History  of  Joshua  must  necessarily  differ  in  many  respects 
from  a  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Joshua.  It  will  be  seen, 
however,  that  this  volume  comprises  such  explanations  of  each 
chapter  of  that  book  as  to  render  it  almost  as  valuable  as  a 
commentary,  and  to  the  general  reader  it  will  perhaps  be  more 
attractive  in  this  form  than  it  would  have  been  in  another.  The 
utmost  care  has  been  bestowed  on  its  preparation,  and  all  avail- 
able helps  have  been  made  use  of;  yet  it  has  not  been  written 
amidst  learned  leisure,  but  amidst  numerous  ministerial  duties, 
often  in  hours  stolen  from  recreation  and  rest. 

Our  language  contains  but  few  works  on  the  subject.  The 
Commentaries  of  Calvin  and  of  Keil,  which  have  been  translated 
into  it,  and  the  Notes  of  Bush,  an  American  writer,  are  the 
principal.  It  cannot,  then,  be  said  that  such  a  work  as  this  is 
uncalled  for ;  the  only  question  will  be,  whether  it  supplies  the 
desideratum  felt. 


VI  PREFACE. 

Among  the  old  folios  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  a  work 
by  Thomas  Fuller,  entitled  'A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine  and  the 
Confines  thereof.'  This  work,  which  is  now  somewhat  scarce, 
professes  to  give  a  geographical  account  of  the  Holy  Land,  and 
is  illustrated  by  a  number  of  curiously-executed  maps.  Con- 
sidering its  date,  it  is  a  remarkable  book,  and  it  is  full  of  the 
quaint  observations  for  which  its  author  was  so  celebrated.  But 
it  furnishes  a  striking  contrast  with  modern  works  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  the  comparison  shows  how  great  an  advancement  has 
been  made  in  recent  times  in  the  knowledge  of  the  geography  of 
the  land  of  Canaan.  Fuller's  work  has  suggested  to  the  author 
some  valuable  thoughts. 

It  has  very  recently  been  observed,  that  the  close,  microscopic 
examination  of  the  Eook  of  Life  is  daily  bringing  its  secret 
beauties  into  clearer  light.  There  are  some  readers  of  that 
book,  however,  who  care  very  little  for  its  secret  beauties ;  and 
as  for  its  topography  and  antiquities,  they  never  trouble  them. 
For  anything  they  know  of  the  physical  character  of  Palestine, 
the  events  of  which  it  was  the  theatre  might  have  taken  place  in 
America  or  in  Japan ;  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  their 
ignorance,  they  have  no  vivid  picture  before  them  of  the  scenes 
depicted  in  the  Bible,  and  are  quite  unable  to  understand  many 
of  its  allusions.  For  such  readers  a  work  like  the  present  will 
have  no  attnactions,  and  the  probability  is,  that,  if  they  open  it  at 
all,  it  will  soon  weary  them.  But  there  is  another  class  of  Bible 
readers — and  it  is  believed  that  the  number  is  constantly  increas- 
ing— who  deem  nothing  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  thought  proper 
to  place  on  the  pages  of  inspiration  unimportant,  even  though 


PREFACE.  VU 

it  be  only  a  genealogical  table,  or  a  list  of  towns  and  cities. 
For  Bible  readers  of  this  class,  the  author  has  written,  with  the 
hope  of  affording  them  a  little  help  to  the  better  understanding 
of  this  portion  of  the  Word  of  God.  He  has  not  written  for  the 
learned,  but  for  inquirers,  he  being  but  an  inquirer  himself,  and 
glad  to  avail  himself  of  all  such  aids  as  are  furnished  by  others, 
of  whatever  name.  Critical  remarks  he  has  introduced  but 
seldom;  historical  and  topographical  inquiries  he  has  entered 
into  with  some  minuteness.  It  will  be  found  that,  for  the  sake 
of  clearness,  and  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  referring  the  reader 
back  to  a  previous  page,  a  topographical  statement  has  occasion- 
ally been  repeated.  It  has  been  thought  best  to  quote,  in  most 
instances  in  which  they  are  referred  to,  the  words  of  Robinson 
and  other  travellers,  rather  than  to  give  the  substance  of  what 
they  say,  that  so  the  reader  who  has  not  access  to  their  works 
may  have  the  benefit  of  their  own  remarks. 

As  no  special  reference  is  made  in  the  body  of  this  work  to 
the  Authorship  of  the  Book  of  Joshua,  it  is  desirable  that  the 
question  should  be  considered  here.  Neology  has  done  its 
utmost  to  prove  that  the  work  is  fragmentary,  and  that  it  was 
written  by  different  persons,  and  at  different  times.  But  the 
shafts  of  its  criticisms  have  been  turned  aside;  for  it  is  abundantly 
evident,  as  Keil  and  others  have  shown,  that  the  book  consists 
of  three  portions  only  :  the  first,  chap.  i.  to  xii.,  containing  an 
account  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan ;  the  second,  chap.  xiii.  to 
xxi.,  an  account  of  its  partition  among  the  tribes  of  Israel ;  and 
the  third,  chap.  xxii.  to  xxiv.,  a  narrative  of  the  return  of  the 
Reubenites  to  their  possessions,  and  of  the  last  days  and  death 


Vlii  .PREFACE. 

of  Joshua.  Nor  can  any  unprejudiced  mind,  especially  after 
reading  Keil's  introduction,  entertain  a  doubt  either  as  to  the 
unity  of  the  work,  or  as  to  its  early  date.  Havernick  is  of 
opinion  that  the  first  half  of  it  was  written  by  Joshua  himself; 
and,  though  Keil  doubts  this,  there  is  very  much  to  be  said  in 
its  favour.  It  is  highly  probable  that  Joshua,  following  the 
example  of  Moses,  his  illustrious  predecessor,  would  write  a 
history  of  the  conquest  in  some  form  or  other ;  and  that  he  did 
write  something,  is  expressly  stated  in  chap.  xxiv.  26.  It  is 
true  that,  in  the  first  part  of  the  book,  the  expression,  *  unto  this 
day,'  several  times  occurs — chap.  iv.  9,  v.  9,  vi.  25,  vii.  26,  etc., — 
as  it  also  does  in  the  second  part  of  the  book ;  a  fact  which 
seems  to  intimate,  that  the  first  part  of  the  book  must  have 
been  written  after  Joshua's  death.  It  is  remarkable,  however, 
that  Joshua  makes  use  of  this  phrase  when  addressing  the 
Reubenites,  chap.  xxii.  3,  17,  xxiii.  8,  9  ;  and  though  in  these 
passages  it  bears  a  somewhat  different  sense,  yet,  as  he  Hved 
several  years  after  the  conquest,  he  may  very  well  have  used  it  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  occurs  in  chap.  iv.  9,  where  it  is  said  of  the 
stones  set  up  in  the  Jordan,  that  '  they  are  there  unto  this  day ;' 
and  in  chap.  vi.  25,  where  of  Eahab  it  is  said,  '  she  dwelleth  in 
Israel  unto  this  day.'  Both  these  passages,  and  especially  the 
latter,  are  surely  decisive  against  the  opinion  that  the  book  was 
written  even  as  late  as  the  times  of  Saul ;  and  hence,  if  Joshua 
himself  was  not  the  author  of  it,  or  of  any  portion  of  it,-  in  its 
present  form^  he  must  have  left  materials  for  it;  for  who  but  him- 
self could  have  furnished  the  accounts  he  gives  of  his  interviews 
with  the  Lord  Jehovah,  chap.  i.  1-9,  v.  13-15,  etc.  ?    And  it  must 


PKEFACE.  ix 

have  been  compiled  from  such  materials,  and  others  possessed 
by  the  writer,  within  a  few  years  after  Joshua's  death.  Calvin 
ascribed  it  to  Eleazar,  Lightfoot  to  Phinehas,  and  Keil  to  one 
of  the  elders  who  outlived  Joshua.  The  latter  view  meets  all  the 
necessities  of  the  case,  and  is,  on  the  whole,  the  most  satisfactory. 
What  more  probable  than  that  one  of  these  elders,  spared  for 
some  years  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  and  well  acquainted  with 
the  events  which  appear  to  have  taken  place  subsequent  to 
Joshua's  death — as  the  capture  of  Hebron,  of  Debir,  and  of 
Leshem — would  be  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  place  the  entire 
history  of  Joshua  on  permanent  record,  for  the  instruction  of 
succeeding  generations  ?  It  would  have  been  strange  if  this  had 
not  been  done ;  and  we  can  no  more  conceive  that  the  events  of 
these  times  were  left  for  several  generations  to  the  uncertainty  of 
tradition,  than  that  those  of  the  times  of  Moses  were  so  left. 

But  there  is  a  class  of  critics  in  this  country  who,  following 
in  the  wake  of  Ewald  and  others,  of  the  German  school  of 
Rationalists,  are  determined,  if  possible,  to  get  rid  of  the  histo- 
rical books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  who  hold  that  both  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of  Joshua  were  compiled  from  ancient 
documents,  and  especially  from  two,  called  respectively  the 
Elohistic  documents,  and  the  Jehovistic;  and,  moreover,  that 
these  books  did  not  assume  their  present  form  until  a  short  time 
before  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  in  Babylon!  Any  one  must 
see  that,  if  this  theory  is  correct,  but  very  little  dependence  can 
be  placed  on  the  historical  accuracy  of  these  works  ;  and,  indeed, 
it  is  the  object  of  the  writers  referred  to,  to  prove  this.  What 
success  have  they  met  with  ?     In  Germany  their  theory  has  been 


X  PREFACE. 

long  since  exploded ;  and,  though  it  is  still  thrust  forward  before 
the  eyes  of  the  British  public,  its  fate  is  sealed,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  able  and  unanswerable  work  of  the  Rev.  D.  Macdonald 
— '  Introduction  to  the  Pentateuch' — recently  issued  from  the 
press  of  Messrs  Clark  of  Edinburgh.  A  more  thorough  work 
on  the  subject  has  not  appeared  either  in  this  country  or  in  any 
other ;  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  our  Theo- 
logical Literature  of  recent  date,  and  will,  no  doubt,  operate  as 
an  antidote  to  much  of  the  poison  which  has  lately  come  forth 
from  higher  quarters. 

The  usual  objections  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Book  of 
Joshua  are  referred  to  in  the  following  pages.  Its  place  in  the 
Jewish  Canon  has  never  been  disputed,  and  there  are  several 
references  to  it,  as  to  a  well-known  work,  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  New  Testament:  Acts  vii.  45  ;  Heb.  xi.  30,  31 ;  James  ii. 
25.  Some  editions  of  the  Septuagint  contain  the  following 
passage  at  the  close  of  the  book  :— '  In  that  day  the  children  of 
Israel  took  the  ark  of  God,  and  carried  it  about  among  them  : 
and  Phineas  became  priest  instead  of  Eleazar  his  father,  until 
he  died,  and  he  was  buried  in  Gabaar,  his  own  place.  But 
the  children  of  Israel  departed  every  one  to  their  own  place, 
and  to  their  own  city.  And  the  children  of  Israel  worshipped 
Astarte,  and  Astaroth,  and  the  gods  of  the  nations  round  about 
them ;  and  the  Lord  gave  them  into  the  hands  of  Eglon,  king 
of  Moab,  and  he  reigned  over  them  eighteen  years.*  But  this 
passage  has  no  authority,  and  is  evidently  made  up  from  Judges 
ii.  12-14,  iii.  7-12. 

The  present  volume  completes  the  series  of  three  Scripture 


PREFACE.  XI 

Biographies — Joseph,  Moses,  Joshua — which  the  Author  con 
templated.  He  acknowledges  with  gratitude  the  kind  reception 
given  to  the  two  former,  especially  beyond  his  own  section  of 
the  Church ;  and  should  the  third  be  deemed  worthy  of  an 
equal  measure  of  attention,  he  will  venture  to  hope  that  he  has 
done  something,  though  but  little,  towards  the  elucidation  of  these 
eventful  histories.  There  are  other  Old  Testament  Biographies 
which  require  similar  treatment,  especially  those  of  Daniel, 
Queen  Esther,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah ;  but  whether  providential 
circumstances  will  permit  the  Author  of  this  series  to  deal  with 
them,  the  future  must  decide. 

Bolton.  Feb.  10,  1802. 


CONTENTS 


Pagk 
CHAPTER  I. 

Joshua  the  Minister  of  Moses,       .....        1 

CHAPTER  II. 
Joshua  the  Successor  of  Moses,     .  .  .  .  .18 

CHAPTER  m. 
The  Spies  sent  to  Jericho,  .  .  .  .  .  .33 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Passage  of  the  Jordan,  .  .  .  .  .50 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Siege  of  Jericho,  .  .  .  .  .  .67 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Sin  and  Punishment  of  Achan,  .  .  .  .85 

CHAPTER  Vn. 
The  Destruction  of  Ai,        .  .  .  .  .  .101 

CHAPTER  Vni. 
The  Gibegnites,  .......    119 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


Page 


CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Defeat  of  the  Five  Kings,       .  .  .  .  .136 

CHAPTER  X. 
FdRTHER  Victories,    .  .  .  .  .  .  .     £56 

CHAPTER  XL 
The  Inheritance  of  Caleb,  ,  .  .  .  .  .174 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Lot  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,    .  .  .  .  .187 

CHAPTER  XIIL 
The  Lot  of  Simeon  and  Dan,  .  .  .  .  .    200 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Lot  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  ....    213 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Lot  of  Issachar  and  Zebulun,  ....    226 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Lot  of  Naphtali  and  Asher,    .....    237 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Levitical  Cities  and  the  Cities  of  Refuge,  .  .     247 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 
The  Last  Years  and  Death  of  Joshua,      .  .         .  .  .    264 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Frontispiece. 

Vignette  Title. 

Pagb 

Moses  and  Joshua  in  the  Tabernacle, 

1 

Bashan,             .... 

18 

House  on  the  Wall, 

33 

Memorial  Stones, 

50 

Jericho,             .... 

67 

Casting  Dust  on  the  Head,      . 

85 

Ebal  and  Gerizim, 

.  101 

Hewers  of  Wood, 

119 

Valley  of  Ajalon, 

136 

Sidon,                .... 

156 

Hebron,  Lower  Pools, 

174 

Defile  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho, 

187 

Joppa, 

200 

Joseph's  Tomb, 

213 

Mount  Tabor,               .            .            •            = 

226 

Sea  of  Galilee, 

237 

Hebron,             .... 

247 

Joshua's  Last  Charge  to  Israel, 

264 

MOSES  AND  JOSHUA  IN  THE  TABEBNACLB. 


CHAPTER    I. 


JOSHUA   THE   MINISTER   OF   MOSES. 


^N  writing  the  life  of  any  man  of  eminence,  the  biographer 
seldom  fails,  if  he  possesses  the  requisite  materials,  to 
commence  with  some  account  of  the  parentage,  the 
birth,  and  the  childhood  of  his  hero  ;  while  upon  the  events  of 
his  boyhood,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  his  mental 
powers  began  to  be  developed,  he  usually  dwells  with  very  special 
interest.     And  if,  as  a  poet  of  our  own  has  said,  '  the  child  is 


2  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

father  of  the  man,'  this  is  but  natural,  for  every  one  is  gratified 
in  being  able  to  trace  the  story  of  a  life  to  its  source ;  and  to 
study  the  connection  between  the  boyhood  and  the  manhood  of 
an  illustrious  individual,  is  often  both  a  pleasant  ^nd  an  instruc- 
tive task. 

But  of  the  early  lives  of  some  great  men  we  know  next  to 
nothing.  Like  the  sources  of  some  of  the  grandest  rivers,  they 
are  wrapped  in  obscurity  and  mist.  How  little,  for  instance, 
do  we  know  of  the  boyhood  of  our  great  dramatist,  WilKam 
Shakespeare !  Beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  born  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon,  April  23,  1564,  the  notices  which  have  come  down 
to  us  of  his  early  life — that  he  received  his  education  at  the 
Free  Grammar  School  of  Stratford,  that  he  was  bound  appren- 
tice by  his  father  to  a  butcher,  and  that  whilst  comparatively  a 
young  man  he  became  a  schoolmaster  in  the  country — are  but 
traditional  and  uncertain ;  and  hence  the  great  secret  of  the 
spring  and  origin  of  his  power  remains  to  this  day  unexplained. 

Such  is  the  case  with  respect  to  Joshua,  the  faithful  minister 
and  the  vahant  successor  of  Moses,  the  deliverer  and  lawgiver 
of  the  Israelites.  We  were  able  to  begin  the  History  of  Moses 
with  an  account  of  his  birth,  of  his  infancy,  and  of  his  early  perils 
and  deliverances  ;  but  the  very  first  notice  in  the  Bible  of  Joshua 
is  as  the  victorious  commander  of  the  Israelites  in  the  battle 
fought  with  Amalek.^  Thus  suddenly  does  he  step  forth  on  the 
great  theatre  of  life,  fully  armed,  like  Minerva  from  the  head  of 
Jupiter  ;  and  respecting  his  early  days  we  can  gather  but  a  few 
incidental  facts. 

He  was  a  descendant  of  Joseph  through  his  younger  son 
Ephraim ;'  and  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  his  pedigree  is 
preserved  in  the  First  Book  of  Chronicles  in  a  more  perfect  form 
than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.^  If  the  genealogical 
tables  of  that  book  are  genuine — and  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 

»  Ex.  xvii.  8-16.  -  1  Chron.  vii.  20-27. 


THE  TIME  OF  HIS  BIRTH.  6 

pose  them  otherwise — loetween  Ephraim  and  Joshua  there  were 
eighteen  generations, — a  fact  to  which  we  referred  in  a  former 
work  as  one  proof,  among  others,  of  the  lengthened  sojourn  of 
the  Israehtes  in  Egypt.^  Bertheau  and  Kurtz,  however,  read 
the  passage  thus : — '  The  sons  of  Ephraim  are  Shuthelah,  and 
his  son  Bered,  and  his  son  Tahath,  and  his  son  Eladah,  and  his 
son  Shuthelah,  and  Ezer  and  Elead.  And  the  men  of  Gath  that 
were  born  in  that  land  slew  them  (Ezer  and  Elead),  for  they 
had  gone  down  to  take  their  cattle :  and  their  father  Ephraim 
mourned  many  days,  and  his  brethren  came  to  comfort  him. 
And  he  went  in  to  his  wife,  and  she  conceived  and  bare  a  son, 
and  called  his  name  Beriah,  for  it  went  evil  with  his  house.' 
Supposing  the  correctness  of  this  explanation,  Ephraim  was  the 
father  of  Beriah,  and  between  Ephraim  and  Joshua  there  were 
ten  generations,  namely,  Ephraim,  Beriah,  Rephah,  Kesheph, 
Telah,  Tahan,  Laadan,  Ammihud,  Elishama,  and  Nun.  But  on 
a  very  moderate  calculation  these  ten  generations  are  amply 
sufficient  to  fill  up  the  430  years  of  the  sojourn  in  Egypt,  and 
our  former  conclusion  on  that  point  remains,  therefore,  un- 
.disturbed.2 

There  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  Joshua  was  born  in  the 
land  of  Goshen  ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  his  father  was  one 
of  Pharaoh's  slaves,  and  was  subject  to  the  lash  of  the  Egyptian 
taskmasters.  The  year  of  Joshua's  birth  is  uncertain  ;  but  if  we 
suppose,  with  Jewish  chronologers,  that  he  lived  in  Canaan 
twenty-seven  years  after  its  conquest,  we  must  infer  that  at  the 
time  of  the  Exodus  he  was  forty-three  ;  for  he  lived  forty  years  in 
the  wilderness,  and  at  his  death  he  was  a  hundred  and  ten  years 
old.  Now,  according  to  the  Hebrew  chronology,  the  year  of  the 
Exodus  was  1491  b.c,  and  43  added  to  1491  is  1534,  whence  it 
follows  that  this  was  the  year  of  Joshua's  nativity.     At  the  time 

»  '  The  History  of  Joseph,'  p.  173. 

'  See  Kurtz  on  'the  Old  Covenant,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  178.     Clark. 


4  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

of  the  Exodus  Moses  was  eighty  years  of  age,  so  that  Joshua  was 
thirty-seven  years  younger  than  he  ;  and  as  Moses  was  upwards 
of  forty  years  of  age^  when  he  fled  into  the  land  of  Midian, 
Joshua  was  at  that  time  an  infant  three  years  old. 

It  was,  then,  during  the  period  of  the  residence  of  Moses  in  a 
strange  land  that  Joshua  grew  up  to  youth  and  manhood, — a 
period  this  of  great  sorrow  and  affliction  to  the  Israelites,  for 
then  it  was  that  they  were  greatly  oppressed,  and  '  sighed  by 
reason  of  their  bondage,  and  cried.'  As  Joshua,  or,  as  he  was 
then  called,  Hoshea,^  became  old  enough  to  understand  the 
nature  of  things,  his  father  Nun,  and  perhaps  his  mother  too, 
though  she  is  nowhere  mentioned,  would  relate  to  him  the  history 
and  fortunes  of  their  people,  and  would  tell  him,  especially, 
of  Joseph,  their  own  illustrious  ancestor.  In  their  custody, 
probably,  was  Joseph's  mummy,  standing  upright  in  its  case  in 
some  corner  of  their  dwelling ;  and  pointing  to  it,  they  would 
say  to  the  boy, — '  We  are  now  an  enslaved  and  afflicted  people, 
but  ere  Joseph,  our  great  progenitor,  died,  he  said,  "  God  will 
surely  visit  you,  and  bring  you  out  of  this  land  unto  the  land 
which  He  sware  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  and  ye 
shall  carry  up  my  bones  from  hence." ^  And  see!  his  bones  are  in 
that  cofiBn,  waiting  for  the  day  when  our  bonds  shall  be  broken 
asunder,  and  our  liberty  proclaimed.'  And  oh  !  how  the  youth 
would  exult  in  the  prospect,  and  how  ready  he  would  be  to  take 
the  oath  of  fidelity  to  Joseph,  which  had  probably  been  taken  by 
all  Joseph's  descendants !  *  On  Joshua,  if  his  father  had  died  in 
Egypt,  would  have  devolved  the  task  of  taking  charge  of  Joseph's 
mummy ;  but  as  his  grandfather  Elishahia  was  alive  at  the  time 
of  the  Exodus,^  it  is  probable  that  his  father  Nun  was  alive 
also.  Yet  a  high  honour  would  Joshua  deem  it  to  take  any  part 
in  the  preservation  of  that  treasure,  and  the  constant  sight  of  it 

»  Acts  vii.  30.  -  Num.  xiii.  16.  »  Gen  1.  24. 

♦  Gen.  1.  25.  '  See  Num.  i.  10. 


ELISHAMA  AND  NUN.  5 

would  inspire  his  mind  with  hope.  He  would  hear,  too,  from 
the  lips  of  his  parents  and  his  friends  the  remarkable  story  of 
Jochebed  and  her  son ;  of  Moses'  refusal  to  become  the  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter ;  and  of  his  flight  from  Egypt,  they  knew 
not  whither.  And  what  would  be  his  joy  when,  having  arrived 
at  man's  estate,  he  heard  one  day  that  this  same  Moses  had 
returned,  bearing  a  commission  from  the  God  of  Israel  to  demand 
of  Pharaoh  the  liberation  of  the  tribes !  His  father  Nun  (or  his 
grandfather  EHshama)  was  probably  one  of  the  elders  to  whom 
Moses  and  Aaron  announced  the  fact  of  their  commission,  and 
Joshua  would  doubtless  receive  the  intelligence  with  the  highest 
satisfaction.  Nor  would  the  long  delay  shake  his  confidence  in 
the  promises  of  God.  He  would  hear  of  the  interviews  of  Moses 
with  Pharaoh,  and  he  would  witness  the  plagues  which  desolated 
the  land ;  and  when,  at  length,  the  night  of  the  deliverance  came, 
he  would  partake,  with  the  family  of  which  he  was  a  member,  of 
the  paschal  lamb ;  and,  in  a  dwelling,  the  door-posts  of  which 
were  sprinkled  with  its  blood,  would  wait  the  signal  which  pro- 
claimed them  free.  That  signal  was  soon  given.  A  great  cry 
was  heard  in  Egypt ;  for  there  was  not  a  house  in  which  there 
was  not  one  dead.  The  pride  of  Pharaoh  was  humbled ;  the 
might  of  the  oppressor  was  destroyed  ;  all  was  ready,  and  pre- 
sently the  tribes  were  on  their  march  to  Rameses,  where  probably 
they  were  organized  for  their  future  journeys. 

The  tribe  of  Ephraim,  to  which  Joshua  belonged,  occupied, 
at  a  subsequent  period  of  the  march,  the  seventh  place  in  the 
order  of  the  tribes,  and  was  immediately  preceded  by  the 
Kohathites  bearing  the  sanctuary.-^  This  was  probably  its  posi- 
tion from  the  first ;  and  from  the  first,  EHshama,  the  grandfather 
of  Joshua,  was  at  its  head.^  Where,  then,  was  Joshua  himself 
but  with  his  honoured  grandsire,  commanding,  under  him,  a 
division  of  the  tribe,  which  numbered  no  less  than  forty  thousand 

^  See  Num.  x.  21,  22.  2  Num.  x.  22. 


6         ,  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

and  fi^e  hundred  ?  ^  Strong,  vigorous,  and  heroic,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  contend  with  the  difficulties  of  the  journey,  and  was 
perhaps  often  seen  encouraging  the  faint-hearted,  and  cheering 
the  more  feeble  of  the  tribe.  A  wise  commander  never  places 
an  untried  soldier  in  a  position  of  extraordinary  difficulty  ;  and 
we  may  be  sure,  therefore,  that  ere  Moses  summoned  Joshua  to 
choose  out  men  and  to  fight  with  Amalek,  he  had  had  ample 
proof  of  his  bravery  and  skill.  Does  a  young  man  aspire  to 
some  post  of  honour  in  the  great  battle-field  of  life  ?  He  must 
show  himself  worthy  of  it  by  faithfully  discharging  the  duties  of 
the  station  he  already  occupies.  Mere  drones  can  never  be 
entrusted  with  the  leadership  of  an  enterprise.  Joshua  was 
already  a  man  of  mark,  or  he  would  not  have  been  chosen  to  the 
command  of  the  army  which  was  to  conquer  the  Amalekites. 
The  Jew  Philo  calls  Joshua  '  the  friend  and  pupil'  of  Moses ; 
and  says  that  he  '  lived  with  him  under  the  same  roof,  and  shared 
the  same  table  with  him ;'  and  that  he  '  performed  other  services 
for  him  in  which  he  was  distinguished  from  the  multitude,  being 
almost  his  lieutenant,  and  regulating,  with  him,  the  matters  re- 
lating to  his  supreme  authority.' ^  Whether  this  was  the  case  or 
not,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  Moses  had  the  most  perfect  con- 
fidence in  Joshua,  and  knew  him  to  be  a  valiant  soldier,  worthy 
to  be  entrusted  with  this  most  important  enterprise. 

Nor  did  Joshua  disappoint  the  expectations  of  his  friend. 
As  Moses  made  choice  of  him  to  take  the  command  of  the  army, 
so  did  he  himself  make  choice  of  others  to  compose  that  army ; 
and,  with  a  number  of  picked  men  in  whom  he  could  confide,  he 
rushed  forward,  sword  in  hand,  to  meet  the  first  enemies  of  the 
Israelites  in  the  wilderness.  On  a  lofty  hill  in  Horeb  sat  Moses, 
with  uplifted  hands,  from  morning  until  sunset,  watching  the 
fierce  onset  of  the  wild  Arab  horde ;  '  and  it  came  to  pass, 
when  Moses  held  up  his  hand,  that  Israel  prevailed ;  and  when 

»  Num.  i.  33.  2  py^Q  <  0,1  Hamanity/  ii. 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  AMALEK.  7 

he  let  down  his  hand,  Amalek  prevailed.'  We  have  elsewhere 
represented  the  upHfted  hands  of  Moses  as  the  sign  of  prayer ; 
but  Kurtz  entertains  another  view,  which  is  perhaps  worthy  of 
attention.  '  The  attitude  of  Moses  was  rather  that  of  a  com- 
mander, superintending  and  directing  the  battle.  This  is  evident 
from  the  simple  fact,  that  the  elevation  of  the  hand  was  only  a 
means ;  the  raising  of  the  staff,  which  was  held  up  before  the 
warriors  of  Israel  as  the  signal  of  victory,  was  really  the  end.  It 
was  not  to  implore  the  assistance  of  Jehovah  that  the  hand  and 
the  staff  were  raised,  but  to  assure  the  Israelites  of  the  help  of 
Jehovah,  and  serve  as  the  medium  of  communication.  It  was 
not  a  sign  for  Jehovah,  but  for  Israel :  it  was  rather  a  sign/ro??i 
Jehovah,  of  whom  Moses  was  the  representative.  So  long,  there- 
fore, as  the  warriors  could  see  the  staff  of  God  lifted  up,  by  which 
so  many  miracles  had  already  been  wrought,  their  faith  was  re- 
plenished with  divine  power,  inspiring  confidence  and  ensuring 
victory ;  and  they  became  strong  to  smite  Amalek  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord.' 1 

We  must  suppose,  then,  that  the  hill  on  which  Moses  sat 
was  behind  the  Amalekites,  and  right  in  front  of  Joshua  and  his 
band.  But  the  hands  of  Moses  were  heavy,  and  now  and  then 
the  rod  dropped,  in  spite  of  his  utmost  efforts  to  hold  it  up. 
Aaron  and  Hur,  therefore,  '  stayed  up  his  hands,  the  one  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  other  on  the  other  ;'-  and  then  Joshua's  forces 
were  encouraged,  and,  though  the  battle  was  severe,  and  lasted 
until  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  the  victory  was  at  length  won, 
and  the  enemy  was  put  to  jQight. 

That  was  an  eventful  day  in  the  history  of  Joshua.  Accord- 
ing to  the  above  representation  of  the  case,  Moses  was,  in  one 
sense,  the  commander  of  the  army,  but  Joshua  was  in  fact  its 
leader,  and  to  Joshua  belonged,  in  great  part,  the  honour  of  the 
victory.      Had  he  been  timid,  faint-hearted,  and  fearful,  the 

»  '  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,'  vol.  iii.  51,  52.  2  ^x.  xvii.  8-13. 


O  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  JVIOSES. 

Amalekites  would  have  smitten  his  forces  to  the  ground ;  but  he 
led  on  his  followers  with  the  bravery  of  a  true  hero,  inspired 
them  with  confidence,  and  thus  won  the  day. 

When  David  won  his  first  victory — the  victory  over  Goliath, 
the  champion  of  the  PhiUstines — the  women  of  Israel  came  out 
with  instruments  of  music,  and  sang  in  praise  of  the  youthful 
hero,  with  exulting  joy  ;  and  when,  in  later  times,  our  own  illus- 
trious commander,  Wehington,  as  Colonel  Wellesley,  gained  his 
first  victory — the  battle  of  Assaye — he  returned  to  England  as 
a  Knight  of  the  Bath,  and  was  everywhere  received  with  the 
highest  honours.  Was  no  honour  done  to  Joshua  by  the  hosts 
of  Israel  ?  were  no  songs  chanted  in  his  praise  by  the  females  of 
the  tribe  of  Ephraim?  The  sacred  narrative  is  silent  on  these 
points,  but  we  may  be  sure  that  some  demonstrations  of  gladness 
would  be  witnessed  in  the  camp ;  and,  that  the  event  might  not 
be  forgotten,  Moses  was  commanded  to  write  it  for  a  memorial 
in  a  book,  and  to  rehearse  it  in  the  ears  of  Joshua,  inasmuch  as, 
on  account  of  Amalek's  unprovoked  attack  upon  His  people,  God 
had  determined  to  put  out  his  remembrance  from  under  heaven.^ 
jEHOVAH-nissi,  said  Moses,  as  he  built  an  altar  on  the  spot, — 
'  The  Lord  is  my  banner  ;'  and  to  Amalek's  ultimate  destruction 
he  looked  forward  with  confidence  and  hope. 

From  that  day  Joshua  would  become  dearer  to  him  than 
ever.  He  had  proved  himself  worthy  of  the  confidence  reposed 
in  him,  and  Moses  felt  assured  that  in  him  he  had  a  friend  on 
whom  he  would  ever  be  able  to  rely.  We  are  not  surprised, 
therefore,  to  find,  that  when  Moses  went  up  into  the  mount  of 
God,  Joshua  accompanied  him,  and  that  he  went  farther  than 
even  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu ;  for  they  were  evidently  left 
behind,  whilst  Moses  and  Joshua  proceeded  towards  the  summit.^ 
Yet  into  the  midst  of  the  cloud— into  the  presence  chamber  of 
Jehovah — Moses  went  alone,  leaving  Joshua,  as  it  were,  to  watch 

'  Ex.  i-vii.  14;  Num.  xxiv.  20:  Deut.  xxv.  19.  *  Ex^  xxiv.  13,  U. 


THE  AID-DE-CAMP.  9 

and  wait  until  he  returned.  And  watch  and  wait  he  did  durinf>" 
the  whole  period  of  Moses'  absence,  sustained  miraculously,  as 
was  Moses  himself ;  for  no  intimation  is  given  that  he  returned 
to  the  camp,  but,  on  the  contrary,  when  Moses  was  descending 
with  the  tables  of  stone  in  his  hand,  there  was  Joshua  still  in  the 
mount ;  and,  hearing  the  noise  of  the  people  as  they  shouted  on 
the  plain  below,  he  said  unto  Moses,  '  There  is  a  noise  of  war 
in  the  camp/  Alas !  no  ;  it  was  worse  than  that.  Moses  had 
already  learnt  from  God,  what  Joshua  had  not,  that  the  people 
had  made  the  molten  calf,  and  were  worshipping  it ;  and  he 
replied,  '  It  is  not  the  voice  of  them  that  shout  for  mastery, 
neither  is  it  the  voice  of  them  that  cry  for  being  overcome ;  but 
the  noise  of  them  that  sing  do  I  hear.'^  How  would  the  noble- 
minded  Joshua  grieve  at  this  intelligence  !  To  him,  as  well  as  to 
Moses,  that  scene  of  revelry  and  mirth  would,  as  they  approached 
it,  appear  most  revolting,  and  he  would  almost  wish  that  he  had 
been  in  the  camp  to  remonstrate  against  an  act  so  foolish.  But 
there  were  probably  other  remonstrants  there,  for  the  Levites 
had  not  yielded  to  the  tempter's  power  ;  and  they,  led  perhaps  by 
Joshua,  were  now  called  to  execute  summary  justice  on  the  people. 
Joshua  is  designated  the  minister  of  Moses, — a  word  which 
signifies  servant  or  attendant,  and  which,  in  military  language, 
would  be  expressed  by  aid- de-camp.  Never,  perhaps,  did  any  one 
fulfil  the  duties  of  such  an  office  more  honourably ;  never,  per- 
haps, was  any  one  more  truly  a  helper  to  the  general  under  whom 
he  served.  Upon  the  fidehty  and  heroism  of  an  aid-de-camp  has 
the  result  of  many  a  momentous  conflict  been  suspended ;  and 
in  how  many  instances  Moses  found  Joshua  of  essential  service 
to  him  in  the  numerous  difficulties  he  met  with  in  the  wilderness, 
who  can  tell  ?  Joshua  never  betrayed  his  trust ;  and,  as  in 
modern  times  a  faithful  aid-de-camp  has  sometimes,  after  the 
death  of  his  commander,  succeeded  to  the  generalship  of  the 

»  Ex.  xxxii.  17, 18. 


10  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

army,  so  Joshua  was  ultimately  called  to  fill  the  place  of  his 
illustrious  guide  and  friend. 

When  the  tabernacle  had  been  set  up  in  the  wilderness,  the 
princes  of  Israel,  heads  of  the  house  of  their  fathers,  brought 
their  offerings  to  the  Lord  ;  and  among  them  came  Ehshama  the 
son  of  Ammihud,  prince  of  the  children  of  Ephraim ;  and  his 
offering  was  '  one  silver  charger,  the  weight  whereof  was  an 
hundred  and  thirty  shekels,  one  silver  bowl  of  seventy  shekels, 
after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  both  of  them  full  of  fine  flour 
mingled  with  oil,  for  a  meat-ofeing  :  one  golden  spoon  of  ten 
shekels,  full  of  incense :  one  young  bullock,  one  ram,  one  lamb  of 
the  first  year,  for  a  burnt-offering  :  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a 
sin-offering :  and  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings,  two  oxen,  five 
rams,  five  he-goats,  five  lambs  of  the  first  year.  This  was  the 
offering  of  Elishama  the  son  of  Ammihud.'^  Was  Joshua  stand- 
ing by,  as  his  worthy  grandsire  brought  these  gifts  to  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  ?  or  did  he  himself  assist  in  their  presentation  ? 
That  he  took  some  part  in  the  ceremony  we  cannot  doubt ;  and 
happy  would  he  be  to  witness  the  imposing  scene,  and  to  help 
his  aged  relative  in  the  task.  The  offerings  of  all  the  princes 
were  alike,  and  very  valuable  they  must  have  been  ;  but  God  had 
first  given  unto  them,  ere  they  left  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  of  His 
own  only  did  they  render  to  Him  again.  But  very  beautiful  must 
have  been  the  sight,  as,  for  twelve  successive  days,  the  twelve 
princes  of  the  people  came  to  Moses,  accompanied,  no  doubt,  by 
many  of  the  elders  of  their  respective  tribes,  bringing  those  gifts 
for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary ;  and  very  gratifying  would  it  be 
to  all  concerned — and  to  Joshua  no  less  than  to  others — to  see 
their  offerings  accepted,  and  to  know  that  Jehovah  deigned  to 
confer  on  His  people  the  honour  of  contributing  to  the  worship 
of  the  tabernacle. 

One  incident  is  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Numbers  which 

1  Num.  vii.  48-53. 


Joshua's  jealousy.  11 

shows  that  Joshua  was  not  a  little  jealous  for  the  honour  of  Moses. 
The  seventy  elders  were  prophesying  near  the  tabernacle,  when 
the  Spirit  came  clown  upon  two  others  also,  Eldad  and  Medad, 
and  they  likewise  prophesied.  What  said  Joshua  ?  Thinking 
that  they  had  no  right  to  prophesy,  he  said,  '  My  lord  Moses, 
forbid  them.'^  No  doubt  Joshua's  motive  was  pure  enough ;  but 
in  this  instance  he  was  mistaken,  as  many  perhaps  are  who  would 
prevent  others  from  doing  good  because,  as  they  happen  to  think, 
they  have  not  been  ordained  or  set  apart  to  the  work.  Or  per- 
haps Joshua  thought  that  they  had  no  right  to  prophesy  because 
they  remained  in  the  camp,  and  did  not  come  unto  the  tabernacle ; 
just  as,  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  John  said  to  Him  on  one  occa- 
sion, '  Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  Thy  name,  and 
we  forbade  him,  because  he  followed  not  us.'^  But  to  Joshua's 
request  Moses  said,  '  Enviest  thou  for  my  sake?  Would  God 
that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets,  and  that  the  Lord 
would  put  His  Spirit  upon  them !'  A  noble  answer,  and  one 
which  only  a  generous  mind  could  have  conceived.  And  why, 
indeed,  should  one  servant  of  God  grieve  because  honour  is 
conferred  upon  another?  St  Paul  rejoiced  though  Christ  was 
preached  even  of  envy  and  strife. ^  And  thankful  should  we  ever 
be  if  good  be  done,  though  it  be  done  by  those  who  are  not  of 
our  party  ;  for  there  is  ample  room  in  the  world  for  every  one  to 
work  who  will,  and  ample  need,  too,  that  every  one  should  work 
who  can.  Joshua  was  silent,  for  he  perhaps  saw  his  error ;  and 
though  himself  one  of  the  elders,  as  some  at  least  have  supposed, 
he  was  wilhug  that  Eldad  and  Medad  should  continue  to  prophesy 
as  the  Spirit  gave  them  power. 

Four  days  after  this  event  the  children  of  Israel  pitched  in 
the  wilderness  of  Paran,  on  the  borders  of  the  land  of  promise  ; 
and  thence,  Moses,  by  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  sent  spies 
to  visit  the  country,  of  whom  Oshea,  or  Joshua,  was  one.     The 

»  Num.  xi.  27-29.         2  L^ke  ix.  49,  comp.  John  iii.  26.  ^  pj^ii.  i  xg. 


12  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

number  of  the  spies  was  twelve,  one  being  selected  from  each 
tribe  ;^  and  Joshua  and  Caleb  seem  to  have  been  the  leaders 
of  the  party.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Moses  called  Oshea 
Jehoshua  or  Joshua — the  one .  name  signifying  '  salvation,'  the 
other  '  the  Lord  of  salvation.'  The  latter  name  occurs  previously, 
not  because,  as  Hengstenberg  thinks,^  that  it  was  given  before, 
and  now  only  renewed,  but  by  a  prolepsis,  of  which  other 
examples  occur  in  the  Pentateuch.  '  The  alteration  in  Joshua's 
name,'  says  Kurtz,  '  was  a  God  speed.  There  was  something 
apparently  significant  in  the  fact  that  they  had  an  Oshea  among 
them.  Moses  not  only  brought  this  to  mind,  but  strengthened 
it,  by  connecting  the  name  of  Jehovah,  which  brings  salvation, 
with  that  of  Oshea,  which  promised  salvation ;  whilst  his  previous 
life  was  a  pledge  that  Jehovah  is  salvation.'^  Philo  represents 
this  change  of  Joshua's  name  as  displaying  the  distinctive  quali- 
ties of  his  character;  'for,'  he  observes,  'the  name  Oshea  is 
interpreted  "  What  sort  of  a  person  is  this  ?"  but  Joshua  means 
"  the  salvation  of  the  Lord,"  being  the  name  of  the  most  ex- 
cellent possible  character  ;  for  the  habits  are  better  with  respect 
to  those  persons  who  are  of  such  and  such  qualities  being  influ- 
enced by  them :  as,  for  instance,  music  is  better  in  a  musician, 
physic  in  a  physician,  and  each  art  of  a  distinctive  quality  in  each 
artist,  regarded  both  in  its  perpetuity,  and  in  its  power,  and  in 
its  unerring  perfection  with  regard  to  the  objects  of  its  specula- 
tion.' *  This,  after  Philo's  manner,  is  somewhat  too  recondite  ; 
yet  Joshua  was  doubtless  worthy  of  this  distinguished  title,  and, 
as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  the  name  then  given  to  him  was  pro- 
phetic of  the  great  work  he  was  to  accomplish  for  God's  people.^ 

'  That  of  Levi  excepted,  Num.  xiii.  5-16. 

2  '  Authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  323. 

'  '  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,'  iii.,  p.  284. 

*  *  On  the  Change  of  Scripture  Names,'  xxi. 

*  The  Septuagint  calls  him  'incrovs,  which  is  also  the  name  given  him  in 
Heb.  iv.  8. 


V 


THE  MURMURIXGS.  13 

With  this  '  God  speed'  the  party  set  out  upon  their  important 
errand.  We  have  elsewhere  followed  them  on  their  journey  to 
Rehob  in  Mount  Hermon,  and  thence  back  to  Hebron  and  the 
Valley  of  Eshcol,  where  they  obtained  grapes,  and  pomegranates, 
and  figs ;  and  we  have  also  referred  to  the  report  they  brought 
of  the  land,  and  to  the  timidity  of  ten  out  of  the  twelve  spies, 
who  greatly  exaggerated  the  difficulties  of  its  conquest,  and 
thereby  discouraged  the  congregation  of  the  people.-^  Caleb  was 
the  first  to  still  them,  and  said,  '  Let  us  go  up  at  once,  and 
possess  it,  for  we  are  well  able ;'  -  and  subsequently  Joshua  also 
assured  the  murmurers  that  they  had  nought  to  fear.^  But  he 
and  Caleb  had  well  nigh  lost  their  lives  for  their  fidelity  ;  for,  had 
not  God  interfered  on  their  behalf,  the  people  would  have  stoned 
them.  That  was  a  sad  and  calamitous  day  ;  for  the  ten  unfaith- 
ful spies  died  by  the  plague  before  the  Lord,  and  from  that 
hour  the  tribes  were  driven  back  into  the  wilderness,  there  to 
wander  for  forty  years,  until  that  generation  perished,  Caleb  and 
Joshua  alone  excepted.  '  Your  carcases,'  said  the  Lord,  '  shall 
fall  in  this  wilderness  ;  and  all  that  were  numbered  of  you, 
according  to  your  whole  number,  from  twenty  years  old  and 
upward,  which  have  murmured  against  Me,  doubtless  ye  shall 
not  come  into  the  land  concerning  which  I  sware  to  make  you 
dwell  therein,  save  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  and  Joshua  the 
son  of  Nun.'* 

It  is  seldom  that  God  grants  to  any  one  a  certain  lease  of  life, 
even  for  a  year ;  but  here  were  two  men  who  were  assured  that 
they  should  live  for  at  least  forty  years,  and  that  they  should 
see,  during  that  period,  a  whole  generation  gathered  to  their 
fathers.  What  must  have  been  the  emotions  of  Caleb  and  Joshua 
at  this  intelligence  !  Let  the  reader  imagine  that  he  himself  is 
informed  that  he  will  certainly  live  for  nearly  half  a  century,  and 

»  See  the  '  History  of  Moses,'  p.  258,  etc.  -  Num.  xiii.  30. 

'  Num.  xiv.  6-9.  *  Num.  xiv.  29,  30. 


14  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

that  he  will  see,  meanwhile,  all  his  coadjutors  and  friends  drop, 
one  after  another,  from  the  stage  of  time,  and  an  entirely  new 
race  spring  up  before  his  eyes.  Would  not  feelings  of  sadness 
predominate  in  his  breast  ?  and  would  he  not  be  disposed  to 
shrink  from  the  ideas  that  would  naturally  enter  his  mind  ?  It  is 
Tvell,  then^  that  as  a  rule  men  are  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  future ; 
and  foolish  beyond  measure  is  the  man  who  attempts  to  draw 
aside  the  curtain  that  hides  it  from  his  view.  But  Joshua  and 
Caleb  received  the  promise  of  lengthened  days  as  a  reward  for 
their  fidelity  ;  and  though  they  would  probably  start  back  at  the 
thought  of  seeing  all  who  had  come  up  with  them  out  of  Egypt 
die  in  the  wilderness,  the  more  youthful  part  of  the  community 
excepted,  yet,  trusting  in  the  all- sufficiency  of  God,  they  would 
at  the  same  time  look  forward,  through  the  long  vista  of  forty 
years,  to  the  day  of  their  entrance  on  the  land  of  promise,  and 
exult  in  the  thought  that  that  land  would,  after  all,  become  the 
inheritance  of  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

Of  Joshua's  fortunes  during  the  years  the  people  wandered 
in  the  wilderness  we  know  nothing.  Those  years  are  a  blank  in 
his  history,  as  they  are  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites  generally. 
We  must,  therefore,  pass  them  over,  and  must  now  look  at 
the  events  which  occurred,  in  relation  to  our  hero,  on  the  plains 
of  Moab,  just  prior  to  the  death  of  Moses.  Philo  represents 
Moses  as  lifting  his  virgin  hands  towards  heaven,  and  saying, 
'  Let  the  Lord  God  of  the  spirits  and  of  all  flesh  look  out  for  Him- 
self a  man  to  be  over  this  multitude,  to  undertake  the  care  and 
superintendence  of  a  shepherd,  who  shall  lead  them  in  a  blameless 
manner,  in  order  that  this  nation  may  not  become  corrupt  hke  a 
flock  which  is  scattered  abroad  as  having  no  shepherd.'  ^  But  the 
very  words  of  his  prayer,  as  given  in  the  saci'ed  narrative,  were, 
'  Let  the  Lord,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  set  a  man 
over  the  congregation,  which  may  go  out  before  them,  and  which 

'  *  On  Humanity,'  ii. 


MOSES'  PRAYER  FOR  A  SUCCESSOR.  15 

may  go  in  before  them,  and  which  may  lead  them  out,  and  which 
may  bring  them  in  ;  that  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  be  not  as 
sheep  which  have  no  shepherd.'^  Moses  had  sons  ov  grandsons 
living.  The  descendants  of  Gershom  and  EKezer  were  ahve, 
though  they — Gershom  and  Ehezer — in  all  probability,  were 
not.  But  he  was  not  so  anxious  for  the  honour  of  his  own  family 
as  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  people ;  and  he  would  not,  there- 
fore, appoint  either  Shebuel  the  son  of  Gershom,  or  Rehabiah 
the  son  of  EKezer,^  to  the  important  oflBce  ;  but  besought  God 
Himself  to  choose  a  successor,  knowing  that  human  wisdom  was 
inadequate  to  the  task,  and  that  no  one  but  the  man  whom  the 
Lord  appointed  would  be  equal  to  the  enterprise  of  leading  the 
people  into  Canaan. 

The  prayer  of  Moses  was  heard,  and  he  was  commanded  to 
lay  his  hand  upon  Joshua,  a  man  in  whom  was  the  Spirit,  and 
to  set  him  before  Eleazar  the  priest,  and  before  the  congregation. 
Moses  was  by  no  means  grieved  or  disappointed  because  one  of 
his  own  kindred  was  not  chosen  to  succeed  him,  for  he  himself 
probably  thought  that  there  was  no  man  so  worthy  of  the  honour 
as  his  long-tried  friend  and  minister ;  and  he  proceeded,  there- 
fore, to  fulfil  the  important  task  of  presenting  him  to  the  people 
as  their  future  guide.  It  was  a  deeply  solemn  and  interesting 
occasion.  Aaron  was  now  dead,  and  Eleazar,  his  son,  was  the 
high-priest  in  his  stead.  And  now,  clad  in  his  pontifical  robes, 
he  is  standing  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  before  which  a  vast 
concourse  of  people  is  assembled,  as  if  waiting  for  some  great 
event.  Presently  the  venerable  form  of  Moses  is  seen  approach- 
ing, and  with  him  the  manly  and  noble-minded  Joshua.  A 
solemn  silence  pervades  the  assembly,  and  Moses  addresses  them, 
and  says,  'I  am  an  hundred  and  twenty  years  old  this  day ;  I 
can  no  more  go  out  and  come  in :  also  the  Lord  hath  said  unto 
me,  Thou  shalt  not  go  over  this  Jordan.     The  Lord  thy  God, 

»  Num.  xxvii.  IG,  17.  2  j  Chron.  xxiii.  16,  17. 


16  JOSHUA  THE  MINISTER  OF  MOSES. 

He  will  go  over  before  thee,  and  He  will  destroy  these  nations 
before  thee,  and  thou  shalt  possess  them :  and  Joshua,  he  shall 
go  over  before  thee,  as  the  Lord  hath  said.'  And,  having  further 
encouraged  the  people,  he  calls  Joshua  forward,  sets  him  before 
Eleazar  the  priest,  and  laying  his  hands  upon  him,  says,  Be 
strong,  and  of  a  good  courage :  for  thou  must  go  with  this  people 
unto  the  land  which  the  Lord  hath  sworn  unto  their  fathers  to 
give  them ;  and  thou  shalt  cause  them  to  inherit  it.  And  the 
Lord,  He  it  is  that  doth  go  before  thee ;  He  will  not  fail  thee, 
neither  forsake  thee :  fear  not,  neither  be  dismayed.'  ^ 

History  presents  no  parallel  to  this  scene.  That  of  Samuel 
anointing  David  king  over  Israel  in  the  place  of  Saul  is,  perhaps, 
the  nearest  approach  to  it ;  and  that  of  Hamilcar,  the  Cartha- 
ginian general,  causing  his  son  Hannibal  to  take  a  solemn  oath 
at  the  altar  of  eternal  hostihty  to  Rome,  can  only  be  mentioned 
as  a  striking  contrast.  True,  Joshua  was  to  look  upon  the 
Canaanites  as  his  enemies  and  not  to  spare  them ;  but  it  was  be- 
cause they  were  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  and  had 
now  filled  up  the  cup  of  their  iniquities.  Did  he  accept  the  task 
assigned  him?  He  had  no  alternative,  for  it  was  God's  re- 
quirement ;  and  to  have  shrunk  from  it  would  have  been  an  act 
of  rebellion  against  Heaven.  However  arduous  an  enterprise  may 
be,  the  man  who  is  called  to  undertake  it  by  the  Lord  Jehovah 
and  refuses,  does  so  at  his  peril,  even  though  he  may  plead  as 
the  ground  of  his  refusal,  his  unfitness  for  the  work.  But  Joshua 
grasped  the  banner  which  was  put  into  his  hands,  confiding  in 
the  strength  of  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers ;  and  Moses,  well 
satisfied  to  leave  the  future  guidance  of  the  people  in  his  hands, 
went  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  beheld  the  land,  and  died. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  the  monarch  of  an  empire,  or  to 
the  commander  of  an  army,  to  know  that  when  he  dies  the  sceptre 
or  the  sword  will  be  wielded  by  skilful  hands ;  and  many  an  il- 

^  See  Deut.  xxxi.  2-8 ;  and  comp.  Num.  xxvii.  18-23. 


Joshua's  nomination.  17 

lustrious  general  has  resigned  his  charge  to  his  successor  with 
the  utmost  pleasure,  knowing  him  to  be  a  man  of  the  highest 
courage,  integrity,  and  skill.  But  perhaps  there  never  was  an 
instance  in  which  an  eminent  functionary  gave  the  baton  of  office 
to  another  with  greater  confidence,  than  did  Moses  to  his  minister 
Joshua ;  and  doubtless  this  was  one  of  the  circumstances  which 
rendered  the  death  of  Moses,  solemn  and  mysterious  as  it  was, 
so  calm  and  peaceful  to  himself.  How  Joshua  fulfilled  his  trust, 
it  will  be  our  object  in  the  following  chapters  to  show. 


CHAPTER   II. 


JOSHUA   THE    SUCCESSOR   OF  MOSES. 


i^JHE  greatest  men  have  no  successors,  taking  that  word 
in  its  widest  acceptation.  Every  representative  man 
occupies  a  niche  in  the  great  temple  of  society  which, 
when  vacated  by  his  death,  is  never  occupied  by  an  individual 
man  again, — ^the  great  purpose  for  which  he  was  raised  up  and 
placed  in  it  having  been  accomplished  by  his  personal  labours. 
The  Prophet  Samuel  had  no  successor,  nor  the  Psalmist  David, 
nor  John  the  Baptist,  nor  Paul  the  Apostle.  Nor  had  Cyrus 
any  successor,  nor  Alexander  the  Great,  nor  JuKus  Caesar,  nor 
the  Emperor  Constantine.     Neither,  in  later  times,  can  any  one 


NOT  IN  HASTE  TO  COMMAND.  19 

be  named  as  the  successor  of  Wicklifife,  or  of  Luther,  or  of  Knox, 
or  of  Cromwell.  All  these  men,  and  others  who  might  be  named, 
stood  related  to  the  age  in  which  they  lived  as  no  other  men  did ; 
and  when  they  passed  away,  it  was  found  that,  though  they  had 
left  behind  them  large  gaps  in  society,  yet  that  none  were  ready 
to  step  forth  and  fill  them,  and  that  each  gap  must  be  filled,  if 
filled  at  all,  not  by  one  man,  but  by  several  men. 

If,  then,  we  speak  of  Joshua  as  the  successor  of  Moses,  we 
use  the  term  in  a  limited  sense  only.  As  a  legislator,  Moses  had 
no  successor.  '  There  arose  not  a  prophet  since  in  Israel  like 
unto  Moses,  whom  the  Lord  knew  face  to  face.'^  His  work 
was  done,  his  mission  was  accomphshed.  No  one  could  fill  the 
place  he  filled,  nor  was  it  requisite  that  any  one  should.  He 
had  left  nothing  unaccomphshed  but  the  conquest  of  Canaan ; 
and  only  as  the  captain  of  the  hosts  of  Israel  was  one  now  needed, 
— only  as  the  captain  of  the  hosts  of  Israel  was  Joshua  appointed 
as  his  successor. 

Joshua's  induction  into  office  probably  took  place  immediately 
after  that  great  man's  death.  God  said  unto  him,  perhaps  in  a 
dream  or  vision  of  the  night,  '  Moses  My  servant  is  dead :  now 
therefore  arise,  go  over  this  Jordan,  thou,  and  all  this  people, 
unto  the  land  which  I  do  give  to  them,  even  to  the  children  of 
Israel.'-  'Moses  My  servant  is  dead!'  Was  this  the  first  cer- 
tain intimation  of  the  fact  which  Joshua  received  ?  It  may  have 
been ;  for  no  one  was  on  Mount  Nebo  when  Moses  died,  and  no 
one,  therefore,  could  be  sure  of  his  demise  unless  informed  of  it 
by  God.  Yet  Joshua,  no  doubt,  knew  that  Moses  had  gone  up 
to  the  mount  to  die ;  and,  as  Moses  did  not  return,  he  would 
naturally  conclude  that  his  death  had  taken  place,  and  that  now 
their  illustrious  leader  was  no  more.  He  was  not  in  haste,  how- 
ever, to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  office,  and  hence  God  had 
to  summon  him  to  the  work  before  him.     How  would  he  receive 

»  Deut.  xxxiv.  10.  2  jogh.  i.  2. 


20  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

the  announcement  ?  what  would  be  his  feelings  when  at  length 
the  solemn  fact  rushed  upon  his  mind,  that  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment were  actually  in  his  hands?  We  have  heard  of  princes 
and  of  rulers  who,  at  the  moment  of  their  accession  to  the  throne, 
have  wept  under  an  almost  overwhelming  sense  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  task  they  saw  before  them ;  and  that  Joshua  would  thus 
feel,  on  taking  the  command  of  that  vast  multitude,  is  more  than 
probable.  Hence  the  promise,  which  he  doubtless  needed :  'There 
shall  not  a  man  be  able  to  stand  before  thee  all  the  days  of  thy 
life :  as  I  was  with  Moses,  so  will  I  be  with  thee :  I  will  not  fail 
thee,  nor  forsake  thee.'  Encouraging  words !  Well  did  Joshua 
know  that  God  had  been  with  Moses, — with  him  when  an  infant, 
exposed  to  the  waters  of  the  Nile ;  with  him  when  a  youth,  amidst 
the  fascinations  of  Pharaoh's  court ;  with  him  when  a  man,  an 
exile  in  a  foreign  land ;  and  with  him  when  the  leader  of  the  hosts 
of  Israel  through  all  the  toils  and  perils  of  the  wilderness.  And 
now  Joshua  was  assured  that  God  would  be  with  him  in  hke 
manner ;  and  that,  whatever  difficulties  might  arise,  he  should 
bring  the  people  into  the  land  which  God  sware  unto  their  fathers 
to  give  them.  Yet  the  promise  was  conditional.  He  niust  be 
strong,  courageous,  and  obedient  to  all  the  injunctions  of  the 
law.  His  prosperity  and  success  were  to  depend  upon  his 
fidehty.  Day  and  night  he  was  to  meditate  in  that  book  which 
Moses  had  left  for  the  instruction  of  the  people,  and,  with  un- 
wavering confidence  in  the  power  of  God,  he  was  to  prosecute 
the  enterprise  which  was  now  before  him.  Then,  not  a  man 
would  be  able  to  resist  him ;  then,  not  an  enemy  would  have 
courage  to  withstand  him ;  then,  not  a  weapon  formed  against 
him  would  prosper.  Resistless  as  the  Hghtning,  he  would  be 
able  to  scatter  all  his  foes  as  the  leaves  are  scattered  by  the 
autumnal  blast ;  and,  ere  he  terminated  his  career,  victory  would 
crown  his  arms,  and  he  would  see  the  Israelites  in  peaceful 
possession  of  the  land. 


THE  SECRET  OF  PROSPERITY.  21 

The  true  secret  of  prosperity  in  any  enterprise,  great  or 
small,  lies  in  obedience  to  the  divine  commands.  This  lesson  we 
may  learn  not  only  from  the  history  of  Joshua,  but  from  that 
of  Joseph,^  from  that  of  Moses,^  from  that  of  Saul,^  from  that 
of  Uzziah,*  and  from  that  of  Hezekiah.^  Nay,  it  is  the  great 
lesson  which  runs  through  the  pages  of  inspiration,  and  which  is 
enforced  by  universal  observation  and  experience.  Wicked  men 
may  appear  to  prosper  for  a  while,  and  God's  people  are  some- 
times staggered,  as  David  was,  because  they  seem  to  flourish 
like  a  green  bay  tree.  But  their  triumphing  is  only  for  a  season. 
Often,  very  often,  are  their  schemes  thwarted  and  their  plans 
frustrated,  and  often  is  the  cup  of  pleasure  dashed  from  their 
lips  just  when  they  imagine  that  they  have  reached  the  object  of 
their  ambition,  and  are  about  to  grasp  the  wreath  of  honour  and 
of  fame.  Or,  if  godless  men  prosper  even  to  the  end  of  life, — 
if  every  plan  they  undertake  succeeds, — if  every  purpose  they 
devise  is  realized, — if  they  amass  riches,  and  dwell  in  palaces,  and 
ride  in  chariots,  and  are  clothed  in  purple, — if  their  persons  are 
had  in  honour,  and  men  bow  down  at  their  approach, — and  if, 
when  they  die,  they  are  buried  with  funereal  pomp,  and  a  marble 
cenotaph  is  erected  over  their  dust,  and  poets  and  historians 
hand  down  their  names  to  future  generations,  and  tell  posterity  of 
their  riches  and  their  glory, — to  what  does  it  amount,  and  what 
does  it  all  avail  ?  Will  such  prosperity  secure  the  happiness  of 
the  deathless  spirit  ?  We  know  that  it  will  not ;  and  hence, 
when  the  Psalmist  understood  their  end,  he  ceased  to  fret  at  their 
success ;  for  he  said,  '  How  are  they  brought  into  desolation, 
as  in  a  moment !  they  are  utterly  consumed  with  terrors.  As  a 
dream  when  one  awaketh ;  so,  0  Lord,  when  Thou  awakest, 
Thou  shalt  despise  their  image.' ^ 

To  Abram  God  said,  '  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this  land, 

»  Gen.  xxxix.  23.  2  Exod.  iii.  12.  ^  1  Sam.  xv.  23. 

*  2  Chron.  xxvi.  5.  ^  2  Chron.  xxxi.  21.  ^  pg,  ix^iii,  19^  20. 


22  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

from  the  river  of  Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the  river  Eu- 
phrates.' ^  And  now,  in  allusion  to  this  original  promise,  God 
says  to  Joshua,  '  Every  place  that  the  sole  of  your  foot  shall  tread 
upon,  that  have  I  given  unto  you,  as  I  said  unto  Moses.  From 
the  wilderness  and  this  Lebanon,  even  unto  the  great  river,  the 
river  Euphrates,  all  the  land  of  the  Hittites,  and  unto  the  great 
sea,  to  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  shall  be  your  coast.'  These, 
then,  were  the  utmost  boundaries  of  the  land  to  be  possessed. 
Far  in  the  north  were  the  mountain  ranges  of  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
Lebanon,  their  summits  capped  with  perpetual  snow,  and  their 
sides  adorned  with  the  cedar  and  the  fir.  On  the  west  was  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  into  which  the  evening  sun  seemed  to  drop 
as  into  a  bed,  amidst  a  flood  of  golden  light.  Eastward  was 
the  Euphrates,  on  the  banks  of  which  Babylon  was  already  rising 
in  her  pride,  the  destined  scourge  of  Judah,  when  Judah  should 
forget  her  God.  And  on  the  south  was  the  wilderness,  stretch- 
ing far  away  to  Egypt's  famous  Nile,  the  river  of  whose  luscious 
waters  the  Israelites  had  so  often  drunk.  It  was  a  wide  and 
ample  territory,  and  it  lay  in  the  very  centre  of  the  then  civilized 
world.  But  the  limits  here  given  do  not  correspond  with  the 
actual  limits  attained;^  for  no  one  advanced  as  far  as  the  Eu- 
phrates ere  David  did,  nor  did  the  Israelites  ever  extend  their 
boundaries  to  the  Nile,  or  ever  think  of  doing  it.  Yet  the  words 
D''"i!4D  nnj  in  Gen.  xv.  18,  rendered  in  our  version  'the  river  of 
Egypt,'  undoubtedly  refer  to  the  Nile,  and  not,  as  some  have 
supposed,  to  the  brook  of  Egypt — D'll^D  ^ni — mentioned  in  Num. 
xxxiv.  5;  Josh.  xv.-4,  47,  etc.,  etc.,  which  was  unquestionably 
the  Wady-el-Arish,  near  the  village  of  that  name,  anciently  called 
Khinocura.  How,  then,  are  the  discrepancies  to  be  met  ?  We 
reply,  with  Hengstenberg,^  Keil,'^  and  others,  that  these  promises 

'  Gen,  XV.  18.  ^  See  Num.  xxxiv. ;  Josh.  xiii.  xix. 

^  '  Genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch,'  vol.  ii.  p.  216. 
^  '  Commentary  on  Joshua,'  p.  67     Clark. 


PREPARATIONS.  23 

partake  of  a  rhetorical  character,  and  merely  indicate  in  a  general 
way  certain  well-known  points  that  were  to  constitute  the  hmits 
within  which  the  land  to  be  gi\ren  to  the  Israelites  would  lie ;  as 
is  evident  from  this  fact,  among  others,  that  between  the  Nile 
and  the  Euphrates  nations  such  as  the  Ammonites  and  the 
Moabites  dwelt,  whose  extinction  or  expulsion  was  expressly 
and  strictly  forbidden  to  the  Israehtes. 

Animated  by  the  divine  promises  which  were  thus  addressed 
to  him,  Joshua  proceeded  at  once  to  make  the  necessary  prepar- 
ations for  taking  possession  of  the  land.  There  were  certain 
ofl&cers  amongst  the  people,  called  shoterim  or  scribes  (ypafifxaTels), 
whose  duty  it  was  to  take  charge  of  the  genealogies  of  the  tribes, 
and  who  assisted  in  levying  troops  for  military  service.  These 
were  commanded  by  Joshua  to  pass  through  the  host,  and  to  say 
to  the  people,  '  Prepare  you  victuals ;  for  within  three  days  ye 
shall  pass  over  Jordan,  to  go  in  to  possess  the  land,  which  the 
Lord  God  giveth  you  to  possess  it.'  A  skilful  general  is  always 
attentive  to  the  commissariat  of  his  army,  well  knowing  that  if 
the  temporal  necessities  of  the  forces  under  his  command  be  not 
supplied,  they  will  be  unfitted  to  sustain  the  difficulties  of  the 
campaign.  This,  then,  was  a  wise  and  prudent  measure ;  and 
the  officers,  seeing  its  importance,  would  hasten  to  fulfil  the  task 
assigned  to  them.  Their  numbers  were  probably  considerable  ; 
and  they  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  the  host,  passing  from  tribe 
to  tribe,  and  from  tent  to  tent,  and  animating  the  people  to  pre- 
pare for  the  conquest  of  the  land.  In  three  days  from  that  time 
they  were  to  be  ready  to  cross  the  Jordan,  though,  as  we  shall 
hereafter  see,  they  did  not  actually  cross  it  until  at  least  seven 
days  after.  How  busy,  then,  they  presently  became!  They 
were  to  prepare  victuals ;  by  which  we  are  not  to  understand 
manna,  as,  although  that  had  not  yet  ceased,  it  would  not  have 
kept  longer  than  a  day ;  besides  which,  they  were  in  an  inhabited 
country,  and  had  already  conquered  several  of  the  nations  on 


24  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

that  side  the  river.  What  the  victuals  were,  then,  it  is  not  dif- 
ficult to  conceive.  They  consisted  of  corn,  sheep,  oxen,  and 
other  produce  of  the  neighbourhood,  which,  though  not  scanty, 
would  nevertheless  require  considerable  effort  to  collect.  Now, 
therefore,  the  young  men  would  sally  forth  into  the  country  round 
about,  and  would  gather  in  whatever  provisions  they  could  find 
in  the  conquered  territory ;  and  now  each  family  would  be  em- 
ployed in  the  preparation  of  these  victuals,  that,  when  the  com- 
mand to  advance  was  issued,  there  might  be  no  lack  of  food  and 
no  unnecessary  waste  of  strength.  In  some  respects  the  scene 
now  witnessed  would  be  similar  to  that  of  the  solemn  night  when 
they  prepared  and  ate  the  paschal  lamb,  just  prior  to  their  de- 
parture from  Egypt.  And  yet  how  different  were  the  two  events ! 
Not  the  present  generation,  but  a  former  one,  ate  of  that  lamb ; 
and  there  were  few  who  would  remember  the  events  of  that 
night.  Would  they  not,  however,  be  reminded  of  those  events  ? 
and  would  they  not  converse  about  them  on  this  occasion?  It 
is  not  improbable ;  and,  as  they  contrasted  their  condition  with 
that  of  their  fathers,  and  thought  of  God's  goodness  to  them 
during  their  wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  their  hearts  would 
glow  with  holy  gratitude,  and  they  would  be  encouraged  to 
place  confidence  in  the  promise  they  had  received. 

Another  proof  of  Joshua's  foresight  presents  itself  before 
us.  The  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  having  a  great  multitude  of 
cattle,  had,  at  their  own  request,  been  permitted  by  Moses  to 
choose  their  inheritance  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan ;  for  '  when 
they  saw  the  land  of  Jazer,  and  the  land  of  Gilead,  that,  behold, 
the  place  was  a  place  for  cattle ;  they  spake  unto  Moses,  and  to 
Eleazar  the  priest,  and  unto  the  princes  of  the  congregation, 
saying,  Ataroth,  and  Dibon,  and  Jazer,  and  Nimrah,  and  Hesh- 
bon,  and  Elealeh,  and  Shebam,  and  Nebo,  and  Beon,  even  the 
country  which  the  Lord  smote  before  the  congregation  of  Israel, 
is  a  land  for  cattle,  and  thy  servants  have  cattle :  wherefore,  said 


vows  AND  PROMISES  SACEED.  25 

they,  if  we  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  let  this  land  be  given 
unto  thy  servants  for  a  possession,  and  bring  us  not  over  Jor- 
dan.' It  appeared  to  Moses  a  selfish  request,  and,  moreover, 
calculated  to  discourage  the  hearts  of  the  people ;  so  that  at 
first  he  opposed  it,  and  remonstrated  with  them.  But  they  as- 
sured him  that  their  object  was  not  to  shrink  from  taking  their 
share  in  the  conquest  of  the  country  beyond  the  Jordan ;  for 
that,  leaving  their  cattle  and  their  little  ones  behind,  they  them- 
selves would  go  armed  before  their  brethren  and  assist  them  in 
their  arduous  enterprise.  The  proposal  was  an  honourable  one, 
and  the  conditions  were  accepted.  'If  ye  will  do  this,'  said 
Moses,  '  if  ye  will  go  armed  before  the  Lord  to  war,  and  will  go 
all  of  you  armed  over  Jordan  before  the  Lord,  until  He  hath 
driven  out  His  enemies  from  before  Him,  and  the  land  be  subdued 
before  the  Lord ;  then  afterward  ye  shall  return,  and  be  guiltless 
before  the  Lord,  and  before  Israel ;  and  this  land  shall  be  your 
possession  before  the  Lord,'  etc.^  And,  lest  they  should  forget 
their  obligation,  Moses,  at  a  somewhat  later  period,  reminded 
them  of  their  promise  ;^  and  now  Joshua  calls  upon  them  to  fulfil 
it.  '  Remember,'  said  he,  '  the  word  which  Moses,  the  servant  of 
the  Lord,  commanded  you,  saying.  The  Lord  your  God  hath 
given  you  rest,  and  hath  given  you  this  land.  Your  wives,  your 
little  ones,  and  your  cattle,  shall  remain  on  this  side  Jordan ;  but 
ye  shall  pass  before  your  brethren  armed,  all  the  mighty  men  of 
valour,  and  help  them ;  until  the  Lord  your  God  have  given 
your  brethren  rest,  as  He  hath  given  you,  and  they  also  have 
possessed  the  land  which  the  Lord  hath  given  them ;  then  ye 
shall  return  unto  the  land  of  your  possession,  and  enjoy  it,  which 
Moses,  the  Lord's  servant,  gave  you  on  this  side  Jordan,  toward 
the  sun-rising.'^ 

Yows  and  promises  should  never  be  forgotten.     It  often 
happens  that  men  make  them  without  intending  to  keep  them ; 

»  Num.  xxxii.  1-24.  2  Deut.  iii.  18-20.  ^  josh.  i.  13-15. 


26  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

and  in  that  case,  when  they  are  reminded  of  them,  and  are  called 
upon  to  perform  them,  they  profess  to  have  forgotten  them,  or 
treat  them  lightly.  Happily  for  the  Reubenites,  they  were  of 
another  spirit.  God  held  them  to  their  word,  and  they  were 
ready  to  go  whithersoever  Joshua  would  send  them.  They  felt 
themselves  under  a  solemn  obligation  to  assist  their  brethren, 
and  they  were  quite  prepared  to  take  their  share  in  the  difficulties 
connected  with  the  conquest  of  the  country. 

And  under  a  solemn  obligation  they  were ;  for  had  not  their 
brethren  assisted  them  in  the  conquest  of  the  territory  which  they 
had  received  for  an  inheritance?  Would  the  Reubenites,  and 
the  Gadites,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  have  been  able  of 
themselves  to  gain  possession  of  the  fertile  territories  of  Jazer 
and  of  Gilead  ?  No.  In  the  war  with  the  Midianites  a  thousand 
of  each  tribe  of  the  Israelites  were  engaged ;  and  thus  the  two 
tribes  and  a  half  were  greatly  indebted  to  their  brethren,  and 
were  in  justice  bound  to  stand  by  them  to  the  end. 

Let  us  survey  for  a  moment  the  country  of  which  they  had 
become  the  possessors.  The  territory  of  Reuben  was  bounded 
on  the  south  by  the  river  Arnon  and  the  land  of  Moab,  on  the 
west  by  the  Dead  Sea  and  a  small  portion  of  the  Jordan,  on  the 
north  by  the  territory  of  Gad,  and  on  the  east  by  the  land  of 
Ammon.  In  the  days  of  Abraham  it  was  occupied  by  a  numer- 
ous race  of  giants  called  the  Emim,  whose  name  is  said  to  signify 
terror,^  but  the  Moabites  had  dispossessed  them  of  it  ;^  and  they, 
m  their  turn,  were  driven  out  of  it  by  the  Amorites,  in  whose 
possession  it  was  when  the  Israelites  conquered  it.^  Its  capital 
was  Heshbon,  which  afterwards  became  one  of  the  Levitical 
cities,'*  and  the  site  of  which  was  visited  by  Seetzen,  Burckhardt, 
Irby  and  Mangles,  and  other  travellers,  who  found,  on  the  side 
of  an  insulated  hill,  considerable  ruins  bearing  the  name  of  Hesh- 
bon, and  who  saw  from  the  summit  of  the  hill  the  ruins  of  many 

»  Gen.  xiv.  5         -  Deut.  ii.  10.        ^  -^xxxn.  xxi.  2G.        *  Josh.  xxi.  39. 


V^ 


THE  TEERITORY  OF  REUBEN.  27 

other  cities.  Here  too,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  Arnon, 
was  Aroer/  the  name  of  which  is  still  attached  to  a  heap  of  ruins 
discovered  by  Burckhardt,  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  wall  of  rock 
which  bounds  theModjib  or  Arnon.  Three  miles  north  of  Aroer 
stood  Dibon,  called  also  Dibon-Gad,  because  it  was  fortified  by 
the  Gadites  after  the  conquest.^  Bamoth-baal,  or  the  heights 
of  Baal,  from  which  Balaam  saw  the  outskirts  of  Israel,  was  also 
situated,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Arnon ;  and  under  the  name  of 
Myun,  Burckhardt  discovered  Beth-baal-meon,  about  two  miles 
south-east  of  Heshbon.  The  positions  of  Jahaza,  where  Sihon 
was  defeated,^  of  Kedemoth,  Mephaath,  Earjathaim,  and  other 
towns  mentioned  in  Joshua  xiii.  18-20,  have  not  been  satis- 
factorily identified  with  any  existing  ruins ;  but  Beth-peor  is 
said  to  have  stood  opposite  Jericho,  and  not  far  from  it  were 
the  cliffs  of  Pisgah,  whence  Moses  was  permitted  to  survey  the 
land. 

The  Reubenites  were  not  mistaken  when  they  said  that  this 
country  was  a  place  for  cattle.  It  is  '  a  land  of  which  travellers 
say,  that  m  beauty  and  fertility  it  as  far  surpasses  western  Pales- 
tine as  Devonshire  surpasses  Cornwall,'^ — a  remark  which  also 
applies  to  the  territories  which  fell  to  the  tribe  of  Gad  and  the 
half-tribe  of  Manasseh.  Buckingham  observes,  that  east  of 
Jordan  there  are  two  ranges  of  hills,  the  first  of  which  consists 
in  general  of  white  limestone,  and  the  second  of  a  mixture  of 
many  other  kinds  of  rock.  Both  these  ranges  are  comparatively 
barren ;  but  no  sooner  has  the  traveller  passed  the  western  one, 
than  he  finds  himself  on  plains  eight  hundred  feet  above  the 
stream  of  the  Jordan,  and  different  from  anything  to  be  seen 
in  Palestine.  '  We  were  now,'  says  our  authority,  '  in  a  land 
of  extraordinary  richness,  abounding  with  the  most  beautiful 
prospects,  clothed  with  thick  forests,  varied  with  verdant  slopes, 

1  Deut.  ii.  36.  ^  ^um.  xxxii.  34.         ^  iq-^^m.  xxi.  23 ;  Deut.  ii.  32. 

*  Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  332. 


28  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

and  possessing  extensive  plains  of  a  fine  red  soil,  now  covered  with 
thistles  as  the  best  proof  of  its  fertihty,  and  yielding  in  nothing 
to  the  celebrated  plains  of  Zabulon  and  Esdraelon  in  Galilee  and 
Samaria.'  ^ 

'Let  Reuben  live,  and  not  die,'  said  Moses ;  'and  let  his  men 
be  few.'  It  was  even  so.  Unstable  as  water,  he  did  not  excel. 
The  tribe  had  to  strive  hard  for  existence,  and  never  attained  to 
any  particular  eminence — never  took  part  in  the  great  struggles 
of  the  nation.  Instead  of  going  up  with  Deborah  against  Sisera 
and  Jabin,  the  Reubenites  abode  by  their  rivers  and  their  sheep- 
folds,  where,  as  Deborah  afterwards  complained  in  her  beautiful 
ode,  there  were  great  thoughts  of  heart — great  deliberations  and 
debates — but  no  resolution  to  engage  in  the  struggle.  Far  more 
agreeable  to  them  was  the  bleating  of  the  sheep  ^  than  the  sound 
of  the  trumpet ;  and,  for  anything  they  cared,  Sisera  and  Jabin 
might  drive  Deborah  and  Barak  from  the  field.  At  a  later 
period,  however, — in  the  days  of  Saul, — there  were  among  the 
Reubenites  some  vahant  men,  who,  together  with  some  of  the 
Gadites  and  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  made  war  upon  the 
Hagarites,  and  took  from  them  fifty  thousand  camels,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  sheep,  two  thousand  asses,  and  a  hundred 
thousand  men.^  But  this  was  the  only  great  exploit  recorded 
of  the  tribe ;  and,  the  first  of  the  Israelites  to  gain  their  inheri- 
tance, they  were  the  first  to  lose  it ;  for  they  transgressed  against 
the  Lord  Grod  of  their  fathers,  and  were  carried  away  captives 
into  Assyria  by  Tiglath-Pileser,  in  the  days  of  Pekah  king  of 
Israel.* 

To  the  tribe  of  Gad  was  assigned  the  principal  portions  of 
the  mountains  of  Gilead ;  respecting  which  Buckingham  observes, 
'  We  continued  our  way  over  this  elevated  tract,  continuiug  to 
behold  with  surprise  and  admiration  a  beautiful  country  on  all 

*  '  Travels  in  Palestine,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  104,  2d  edit.  1822. 

*  Judg.  V.  15,  IG.  3  I  Chron.  v.  18-21.  *  2  Kings  xv.  21). 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GAD.  29 

sides  of  us ;  its  plains  covered  with  a  fertile  soil,  its  hills  clothed 
with  forests,  at  ev^ery  new  turn  presenting  the  most  magnificent 
landscapes  -that  could  be  imagined.'  The  eastern  boundary  of 
this  tribe  is  not  defined ;  but  to  the  south  it  extended  to  Jazer, 
supposed  by  Seetzen  to  be  represented  by  the  ruins  of  Szir, 
fifteen  miles  north-west  of  Heshbon,  and  to  Aroer  that  is  before 
Kabbah, — the  latter  town  being  the  capital  of  the  Ammonites, 
which  probably  remained  in  their  possession.  Northward,  the 
territory  of  Gad  seems  to  have  diminished  in  breadth  to  a  narrow 
tract  along  the  Jordan,  so  that  the  domain  of  the  half-tribe  of 
Manasseh  extended  on  its  north-eastern  border.  The  principal 
towns  of  Gad  were,  Ramoth-Gilead  or  Ramoth-Mizpeh,  which 
was  probably  identical  with  the  present  es-Salt,  and  which  was 
given  to  the  Levites  and  became  one  of  the  cities  of  refuge, 
and  Mahanaim  on  the  north  of  the  Jabbok,  where  Ishbosheth 
was  proclaimed  king,  and  whither  David  fled  from  Absalom. 

'  Gad,  a  troop  shall  overcome  him :  but  he  shall  overcome  at 
last,'  was  Jacob's  prophecy.  Whilst  Moses  said  of  him,  '  Blessed 
be  he  that  enlargeth  Gad :  he  dwelleth  as  a  lion,  and  teareth  the 
arm  with  the  crown  of  the  head.  And  he  provided  the  first  part 
for  himself,  because  there,  in  a  portion  of  the  lawgiver,  was  he 
seated ;  and  he  came  with  the  heads  of  the  people,  he  executed 
the  justice  of  the  Lord,  and  His  judgments  with  Israel.'^  His 
name  signified  'a  troop  of  plunderers;'  and  the  prophecy  of 
Moses  was  fulfilled,  and  the  character  of  the  tribe  illustrated, 
when  (in  the  days  of  David)  Ezer,  Obadiah,  Ehab,  and  several 
others,  whose  '  faces  were  like  the  faces  of  lions,  and  who  were 
swift  as  the  roes  upon  the  mountains,'  crossed  the  Jordan  when 
it  had  overflowed  all  its  banks,  and  joined  the  outlawed  David, 
and  helped  him  against  the  band  of  the  rovers.^  In  the  days  of 
Solomon  twelve  oflBcers  were  appointed  to  provide  victuals  for 
the  king  and  his  household,  each  man  for  one  month  in  a  year;^ 

>  Deut.  xxxiii.  20,  21.         2  i  Chron.  xii.  8-21.         ^  i  Kings  iv.  7-14. 


30  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

and  of  these,  Geber  the  son  of  TJri  is  said  to  have  been  the  only 
officer  in  the  country  of  Gilead,  whilst  his  son  was  prefect  in 
Ramoth-Gilead  and  several  other  towns,  and  Ahinadab  the  son 
of  Iddo  had  charge  of  Mahanaim  and  the  territory  round  about 
it.  "We  may  infer  from  this  fact,  that  the  fruits  and  products  of 
this  land  were  plentiful ;  and  rich,  no  doubt,  would  be  the  supply 
of  provisions  which  Solomon  would  receive  from  these  purveyors. 
And,  indeed,  it  was  to  this  trans-Jordanic  territory  that  Moses 
specially  referred  when  he  said,  '  The  Lord  hath  made  him  to 
ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  that  he  might  eat  the  in- 
crease of  the  fields ;  and  He  made  him  to  suck  honey  out  of  the 
rock,  and  oil  out  of  the  flinty  rock ;  butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of 
sheep,  with  fat  of  lambs,  and  rams  of  the  breed  of  Bashan,  and 
goats,  with  the  fat  of  the  kidneys  of  wheat ;  and  thou  didst  drink 
the  pure  blood  of  the  grape.'  ^ 

The  half-tribe  of  Manasseh  had  not  joined  in  the  request  of 
the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad ;  but  the  children  of  Machir,  the 
first-born  of  Manasseh,  were  animated  with  a  martial  spirit,  and 
took  the  land  of  Gilead  from  the  Amorites  who  dwelt  there.  Jair 
took  sixty  cities  or  villages,  and  called  them  Havoth- Jair,  that  is, 
hut-villages  of  Jair ;  and  Nobah  took  Kenath  and  its  villages, 
and  called  it  after  his  own  name.^  Moses,  therefore,  gave  them 
this  territory ;  and  a  rich  and  ample  one  it  was.  It  extended 
from  Mahanaim  on  the  south,  and  included  not  only  the  province 
of  Bashan,  but  the  whole  kingdom  of  Bashan,  which  embraced 
the  northern  portion  of  Gilead  with  its  two  principal  cities, 
Ashtaroth  and  Edrei.^  Ashtaroth  was  the  residence  of  Og  king 
of  Bashan,  and  became  one  of  the  Levitical  cities.  Edrei  is  sap- 
posed  by  Porter  and  others  to  be  identical  with  Edhra  or  Adraha, 
a  village  on  the  south  banks  of  the  Wady  ed-Dan.  Of  this 
country  as  a  whole  Buckingham  says,  '  The  general  face  of  the 

1  Deut.  xxxii.  13,  1-1.  2  Num.  xxxii.  39-42  ;  Josli.  xiii.  29-31. 

*  1  Chron.  v.  23,  21 


TERKITORY  OF  THE  HALr-TRIBE  OF  MANASSEH.        31 

region  improved  as  we  advanced  farther  in  it,  and  every  new 
direction  of  our  path  opened  upon  us  views  which  surprised  and 
charmed  us  by  their  grandeur  and  beauty.  Lofty  mountains 
gave  an  outKue  of  the  most  magnificent  character ;  flowing  beds 
of  secondary  hills  softened  the  romantic  wildness  of  the  picture ; 
gentle  slopes,  clothed  with  wood,  gave  a  rich  variety  of  tints, 
hardly  to  be  imitated  by  the  pencil ;  deep  valleys,  filled  with 
murmuring  streams  and  verdant  meadows,  offered  all  the  luxuri- 
ance of  cultivation ;  and  herds  and  flocks  gave  life  and  animation 
to  scenes,  as  grand,  as  beautiful,  and  as  highly  picturesque,  as 
the  genius  or  taste  of  a  Claude  could  either  invent  or  desire.' 
Nor  is  this  description  of  it  at  all  exaggerated,  for  it  is  almost 
surpassed  by  that  of  Lord  Lindsay ;  and  every  traveller  who  has 
visited  the  region  speaks  of  it  with  like  enthusiasm. 

This  territory  included  one  half  of  Gilead,  the  other  half  of 
which  lay  in  the  country  assigned  to  Gad.  The  mountains  of 
Gilead  commence  at  a  little  distance  from  Mount  Hermon,  and 
extend  southwards  to  the  sources  of  the  Jabbok  and  the  Arnon. 
*  As  it  was  thus  first  occupied  by  the  Israelites,  so  it  subsequently 
became  the  border-land  between  Palestine  and  the  nations  of 
eastern  Asia.  From  its  midway  position  it  necessarily  bore  the 
brunt  of  all  the  incursions  of  the  Syrians  of  Damascus,  when 
Ramoth- Gilead  became  the  scene  of  so  many  sieges  and  battles, 
as  the  fortress  for  which  both  kingdoms  contended ;  and  for  the 
same  reason  it  was  the  first  to  resist  and  the  first  to  fall  before 
the  arms  of  the  Assyrian  Tiglath-Pileser.  In  this  respect  the 
range  of  Gilead  remained  faithful  to  the  description  given  by 
the  two  patriarchs  who  of  old  parted  on  its  summit,  as  the 
boundary-line  between  the  tribes  of  Canaan  and  those  of  Meso- 
potamia. "  This  heap  is  a  witness  between  me  and  thee  this 
day.  .  .  .  The. God  of  Abraham  and  the  God  of  Nahor 
judge  betwixt  us."'^ 

1  Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  pp.  320,  321. 


32  JOSHUA  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  MOSES. 

Such  is  but  a  hasty  view  of  the  trans-Jordanic  territories 
assigned  to  Reuben,  Gad,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh. 
Having  received  such  an  inheritance,  it  was  but  just  and  right 
that  they  should  not  sit  down  and  rest  until  the  country  west  of 
the  Jordan  was  also  conquered ;  and,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see, 
a  considerable  portion  of  them  went  with  Joshua  to  the  war, 
and  subsequently  returned  to  the  lands  assigned  to  them.  Joshua, 
like  Moses,  was  a  lover  of  justice;  and  though  he  could  doubt- 
less have  conquered  Canaan  without  the  aid  of  the  two  tribes 
and  a  half,  yet  he  chose  to  act  on  the  principles  of  his  prede- 
cessor, and  demanded  as  a  right  what  was  not  perhaps  a  matter 
of  necessity. 


EOUSE  ON  THE  WAiL. 


CHAPTER    III. 


THE    SPIES   SENT   TO   JERICHO. 


§HE  Israelites  still  abode  in  Shittim,  where  they  had  en- 
camped prior  to  the  death  of  Moses.  It  was  in  the 
desert  plains  of  Moab  ;  and  was  so  called  from  the 
acacia  groves  which  line  both  the  eastern  and  the  western  banks 
of  the  Jordan.  '  Their  tents  were  pitched,'  observes  Mr  Stan- 
ley, '  from  Abel-Shittim  on  the  north,  to  Beth-Jeshimoth  on  the 
south  (Num.  xxxiii.  49), — from  the  ^^  meadow"  which  marked 


34  THE  SriES  SENT  TO  JERICHO. 

the  limit  of  those  '^groves,''  to  the  ^'hamleV  or  '^ house''  which 
stood  in  the  ^^  wasted'  or  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.'  Very 
beautiful  must  have  been  the  view  of  them  which  Balaam  saw 
from  'the  top  of  the  rocks'  on  which  he  stood,  and  thus  he 
described  the  scene  before  him :  — 

'  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  0  Jacob  \ 
Thy  tabernacles,  0  Israel ! 

As  the  valleys  are  they  spread  forth, 

As  gardens  by  the  river's  side, 

As  the  trees  of  lign-aloes  which  the  Lord  hath  planted, 

As  cedar-trees  beside  the  waters.' 

Just  opposite  their  encampment,  and  sixty  stadia  east  of  the 
Jordan,  was  Jericho,  the  city  of  palm-trees ;  and  here,  the  frontier 
town  of  the  land  of  promise.  It  was  one  of  the  walled  cities  of 
which  ten  of  the  spies  who  went  to  search  out  the  land  were  so 
much  afraid,  and  of  which  they  brought  so  alarming  an  account. 
Yet  it  was  absolutely  essential  that  Joshua  should  take  it,  for  it 
was  the  key  of  Palestine,  and  would  form  the  basis  of  all  future 
operations.  And  take  it  he  would,  for  God  had  promised  it  to 
liim.  But  he  was  cautious,  and  neglected  no  means  likely  to 
facilitate  its  conquest.  For  his  own  satisfaction,  as  it  would 
appear,  he  sent  two  spies,  saying  unto  them  secretly  or  apart, 
'  Go  view  the  land,  and  especially  Jericho.'  '  He  sent  them  away 
privately,'  says  Keil,  '  partly  in  order  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
land  might  not  receive  any  intimation  of  it,  and  partly  also  that 
the  Israelites  themselves  might  not  be  disheartened  by  the  re- 
port, if  it  should  prove  unfavourable,  as  they  had  formerly  been 
in  the  time  of  Moses.'  ^ 

If  the  Jordan  was  now  overflowing  its  banks,  the  two  spies 
must  have  crossed  it  by  swimming ;  and  no  sooner  were  they  on 
the  opposite  bank,  than  they  proceeded  towards  Jericho  and 
entered  one  of  its  gates.     Against  the  wall  of  the  town  they 

^  '  Commentary  on  Joshua,'  p.  79.     Clark. 


RAHAB.  35 

found  the  house  of  a  harlot  named  Rahab,  and,  to  avoid  suspicion, 
they  entered  it  and  there  lodged.  Some  have  supposed  that 
Rahab  was  not  a  harlot,  but  an  innkeeper ;  but  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  inns  were  kept  in  those  days,  and  the  word  rendered 
harlot,  njir,  is  certainly  from  the  root  n:T,  to  commit  ivhoredom,  and 
not,  as  Schleusner  and  others  have  represented,  from  f^T,  to  feed. 

They,  of  course,  told  the  woman  their  errand,  and  probably 
informed  her — what,  indeed,  she  must  have  heard  already — that 
their  people  were  encamped  in  vast  numbers  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  river,  that  they  intended  to  invade  the  land,  and  that 
Jericho  was  doomed  to  fall  into  their  hands.  She  beheved  their 
words,  and  resolved  to  aid  them  to  the  utmost  of  her  power. 
Fearing  that  the  entrance  of  the  spies  into  her  house  had  been 
observed,  and  that  the  king  of  Jericho  would  hear  of  it  and  send 
messengers  to  seize  them,  she  took  them  to  the  top  of  the  build- 
ing, which  was  flat,  and  there  hid  them  under  the  stalks  of  flax 
which  she  had  laid  in  order  on  the  roof.  In  Egypt  flax  grows 
to  the  height  of  three  feet  and  upwards ;  and,  as  the  chmate  of 
Jericho  was  similar  to  that  of  Egypt,  the  plant  would  attain 
the  same  height  in  that  neighbourhood.  Now  these  long  stalks 
of  flax  had  been  piled  up  on  the  top  of  Rahab's  house  to  dry  in 
the  sun,  and  were  very  suitable  for  the  purpose  to  which  they 
were  now  put.^ 

The  king  of  Jericho  speedily  received  intelligence  of  the  ar- 
rival of  the  spies ;  for  there  were,  no  doubt,  guards  appointed  to 
watch  the  city  gates,  and  to  give  notice  to  the  king  of  the  en- 
trance of  any  strangers.  And,  as  Rahab  had  apprehended,  the 
king's  messengers  soon  appeared  at  her  door,  and  demanded  that 
she  should  give  up  the  men  who  had  lately  entered  her  dwelling. 

1  From  Exod.  ix.  31,  it  appears  that  flax  and  barley  ripened  together.  But 
this  was  the  time  of  the  barley  harvest  in  Canaan,  and,  "we  may  infer,  of  the  flax 
harvest  too.  Hence  the  flax  on  Eahab's  house  had  just  been  gathered  in.  See 
Blunt's  'Undesigned "Coincidences,'  p.  105,  6th  edit. 


36  THE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JEKICHO. 

It  may  appear  surprising  that  they  did  not  forcibly  enter  the 
house  and  search  it,  as  would  be  done  under  such  circumstances 
in  our  day ;  but  in  the  East,  as  Dr  Kitto  observes,  the  privacy 
of  a  woman  was  respected,  even  to  a  degree  that  might  be  called 
superstitious ;  and  no  one  will  enter  the  house  in  which  she  lives, 
or  the  part  of  the  house  she  occupies,  until  her  consent  has  been 
obtained,  if,  indeed,  such  consent  be  ever  demanded.'^  The 
king's  messengers,  then,  only  appeared  at  the  door  of  Rahab's 
house,  and  there  made  their  demand.  But  the  spies  had  been 
already  hid — for  it  is  not  likely  that  the  messengers  were  kept 
waiting  at  the  door  whilst  she  was  concealing  the  two  men — and 
she  was  resolved  not  to  comply  with  the  king's  request.  Kahab 
said  therefore,  '  There  came  men  unto  me,  but  I  wist  not  whence 
they  were :  and  it  came  to  pass,  about  the  time  of  shutting  of 
the  gate,  when  it  was  dark,  that  the  men  went  out ;  whither  the 
men  went,  I  wot  not :  pursue  after  them  quickly :  for  ye  shall 
overtake  them.'-  She  was  a  sharp-witted  woman ;  and  very  artful 
was  this  reply.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  falsehoods  it  con- 
tained? Was  it  a  lawful  deception  which  Bahab  thus  practised 
on  the  messengers  ?  or  may  we  conclude,  with  Grotius,  that 
'before  the  Gospel,  a  lie  which  contributed  to  the  safety  of 
good  men  was  not  regarded  as  a  sin?'^  No  ;  a  lie  is  a  lie, 
and  was  such  in  all  ages ;  and  of  the  sin  of  lying,  Bahab  was 
unquestionably  guilty.  But  she  was  a  heathen,  and  her  notions 
of  morality  were  doubtless  of  the  lowest  kind.  Had  sha  been 
better  taught,  she  would  have  known  that  to  resort  to  any  such 
sinful  expedient  as  this  was  quite  unnecessary,  inasmuch  as  God 
would  have  taken  care  both  of  her  and  of  His  servants.  But, 
though  Bahab  had  a  little  faith — faith  to  believe  that  God  was 
about  to  give  the  victory  to  the  Israelites,  her  faith  did  not  go 
so  far  as  this,  and  hence  she  deemed  it  necessary  to  tell  a  false- 

*  '  Daily  Eeadings,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  243.  2  josh.  ii.  4,  5. 

•  Quoted  by  Koil,  Comm.  in  loco. 


THE  king's  messengers.  37 

hood  in  order  to  screen  the  spies  from  harm.  Yet  ^  her  faith 
was  counted  unto  her  for  righteousness,  and  her  sins,  which  were 
many,  were  forgiven.'^  And  according  to  St  James,  she  was 
justified  by  works  also;^  'because  her  works  were  a  necessary 
part  of  that  inherent  righteousness  which  must  be  in  every  one 
that  lives  by  faith.' — '  Had  she  said  unto  these  messengers  only 
thus — I  believe  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth  hath  given  you 
this  whole  land  for  a  possession,  yet  I  dare  not  show  you  any 
kindness  in  this  city — her  belief  would  have  been  as  dead  as  a 
body  without  breath  or  motion.'^  But  her  faith  was  a  living, 
operative  faith ;  and  by  her  works  it  was  made  manifest,  and 
became  acceptable  to  God. 

It  has  always  been  customary  in  the  East  to  close  the  gates 
of  walled  cities  in  the  evening,  and  not  to  permit  any  person  to 
pass  through  them  without  special  authority.  The  messengers 
of  the  king  had  such  authority,  and  they  immediately  sallied  forth 
in  quest  of  the  supposed  fugitives.  It  was  getting  dusk,  for  the 
sun  had  already  set ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  men  spent  three 
days  in  pursuit  of  the  spies,  perhaps,  as  is  often  done  in  some 
countries  to  this  day,  following  upon  what  they  fancied  were 
their  foot-prints  with  the  utmost  care.  There  were  several  fords 
over  the  Jordan,  which,  if  the  river  was  not  yet  full,  they  might 
have  crossed.  But  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  they  would  ven- 
ture to  the  opposite  bank ;  for  there  the  Israelites  were  encamped, 
and  they  would  be  in  danger  of  being  taken  prisoners. 

But  now  Rahab  returned  to  the  two  spies.  There  they 
were  on  the  top  of  the  house,  trembhng  with  apprehension  lest 
they  should  be  betrayed,  or  lest  the  messengers,  whose  approach 
they  had  heard,  should  force  their  way  to  their  hiding-place, 
when  Rahab  came  to  them  and  quieted  their  fears.  She  told 
them  that  she  knew  something  of  their  history, — how  the  Lord 

1  Heb.  xi.  31.  ^  james  ii.  25. 

*  Dr  Thomas  Jackson's  Works,  vol.  iii.,  p.  182.     Oxford  edit 


38  TOE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JERICHO. 

liad  dried  up  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  before  them, — how  they 
had  smitten  Sihon  and  Og,  the  two  kings  of  the  Amorites, — and 
how,  whea  these  tidings  reached  the  ears  of  her  countrymen, 
their  hearts  melted  and  their  courage  failed  them  ;  and  she  now 
entreated  them  to  swear  that,  when  they  entered  the  city  as  con- 
querors, they  would  show  kindness  to  her  and  to  her  family,  and 
save  her  father,  and  her  mother,  and  her  brethren,  and  her  sisters 
from  death.  It  was  a  touching  appeal.  Harlot  as  she  was,  she 
had  not  lost  her  affections  for  her  kindred.  In  some  other  part 
of  the  city  her  parents  were  living,  and  her  brethren,  and  her 
sisters;  and  for  these,  as  well  as  for  herself,  she  interceded  with 
the  spies,  believing  that  they  would  be  able  to  preserve  them  from 
the  general  destruction  which  awaited  the  inhabitants.  How 
could  the  spies  resist  her  appeal  ?  They  knew  the  doom  that 
hung  over  the  city,  for  they  knew  that  God  had  commanded 
Joshua  to  slay  utterly  old  and  young ;  but  they  doubted  not 
that,  having  experienced  such  kindness  from  Rahab,  they  might 
give  her  the  assurance  of  protection.  She  urged  her  request 
on  the  ground  of  the  favour  she  had  conferred  on  them.  '  I  have 
showed  kindness  to  you,'  she  said ;  '  swear  therefore  that  ye 
will  also  show  kindness  unto  me.'  They  promised  that  they 
would.  '  Our  life  for  your?,'  they  replied,  '  if  ye  utter  not  this 
our  business.  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  hath  given  us  the 
land,  that  we  will  deal  kindly  and  truly  with  thee.' 

It  is  observable  that  in  this  address  of  Rahab  the .  name 
Jehovah  occurs;  but  was  she — a  heathen  woman — acquainted 
with  this  mysterious  name,  or  was  it  merely  put  into  her  lips 
by  the  historian?  That  she  knew  its  .full  import,  or  that  she 
had  already  become  a  worshipper  of  Jehovah,  we  cannot  sup- 
pose ;  but  that  she  might  have  heard  that  this  was  the  name  of 
the  God  of  the  Israelites,  is  just  as  probable  as  that  she  had  re- 
ceived the  intelligence  of  their  passage  through  the  Red  Sea. 
It  may  be  difficult  to  some  minds  to  conceive  how  she  could  re- 


THE  OATH  OF  THE  SPIES.  39 

ceive  intelligence  respecting  them  at  all ;  but  surely  such  stirring 
events  as  had  occurred  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  would  be  re- 
ported on  the  west  of  it.  Would  there  not  be  many  stragglers 
from  the  armies  of  Sihon  and  of  Og  who  would  seek  refuge 
beyond  the  river,  and  carry  with  them  the  alarming  tidings  of 
the  people  who  had  come  out  of  Egypt,  and  who  were  sweeping 
away  everything  before  them  t  If  Balak  king  of  Moab  heard  of 
Israel's  conquests  and  took  the  alarm  ere  yet  the  territory  east 
of  the  Jordan  was  entirely  in  their  hands,  well  might  the  king 
of  Jericho  hear  of  them  and  tremble  when  the  Midianites  also 
had  been  subdued. 

Rahab  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  an  oath  from  the 
spies.  '  Swear  unto  me  by  Jehovah,'  said  she ;  or,  literally,  '  give 
me  a  token  of  truth.'  '  The  material  man  is  not  contented  with 
a  word  alone  ;  for  greater  security  he  requires  a  material  token, 
a  visible  pledge  of  the  word,  which  may  serve  either  to  remind 
the  other  of  his  oath,  or,  if  he  break  it,  to  convict  him  of  perjury. 
It  has  therefore  been  a  custom  with  all  nations  to  give  such 
tokens  in  connection  with  oaths  and  treaties.  They  have  only 
been  driven  out  by  the  written  signature  of  oaths,  contracts, 
and  other  things  of  the  same  description,  the  document  in  writing 
taking  the  place  of  a  token  chosen  at  pleasure.'  ^  And  with  the 
words,  '  Our  life  for  yours,'  or  '  our  souls  shall  die  for  you,'  the 
spies  took  the  required  oath ;  for  they  meant  by  this,  '  We  place 
our  life  and  soul  in  the  hand  of  God,  as  a  pledge  for  thee,  in 
order  that  He  may  destroy  us  if  any  one  injures  thee  or  thine.' 

But  how  were  they  to  know  Rahab's  house  again?  or  how 
were  Joshua  and  his  people  to  distinguish  the  habitation  in  which 
she  and  her  family  would  remain  ?  In  the  storming  of  a  city  it 
is  no  easy  thing  for  the  conquerors  to  show  favour  to  a  single 
family  within  it ;  for  there  is  generally  so  much  confusion,  and 
the  inhabitants  crowd  together  in  such  wild  consternation,  that 

*  Keil  on  '  Joshua,'  p.  88.     Clark. 


40  THE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JERICHO. 

families  are  lost  one  among  another,  and  the  nearest  relatives 
are  often  unable  to  recognise  each  other.  The  spies  therefore 
required  Rahab,  as  the  conditions  on  which  their  oath  should  be 
binding,  that  she  should  bring  all  the  members  of  her  family  into 
that  house,  and  that  from  its  window  she  should  bind  a  scarlet 
cord,  which,  it  is  probable,  they  themselves  gave  her  for  the 
purpose.  It  was  a  cord  spun  of  crimson  threads,  a  colour 
obtained  from  the  insect  Coccus  illicis,  the  dead  bodies  of  the 
females  of  which,  together  with  their  eggs,  furnish  a  splendid 
deep  red  dye.  This  insect  '  is  found  abundantly  upon  a  small 
species  of  evergreen  oak  {Quercus  cocciferd),  common  in  the  south 
of  France  and  many  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  has  been  em- 
ployed to  impart  a  blood-red  or  crimson  dye  to  cloth  from 
tiie  earliest  ages,  and  was  known  to  the  Phoenicians  before  the 
time  of  Moses  under  the  name  of  Tola  or  Tolath  (y?in),  to  the 
Greeks  under  that  of  Coccus  (Kokkos),  and  to  the  Arabians  and 
Persians  under  that  oi  Kermes  or  Alhermes;  whence,  as  Beckman 
has  shown,  and  from  the  epithet  venniculatum,  given  to  it  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  when  it  was  ascertained  to  be  the  produce  of  a 
worm,  have  sprung  the  Latin  coccineus,  the  French  cramoisi  and 
vermeil,  and  our  crimson  and  vermilion.'^  In  the  passage  be- 
fore us — Josh.  ii.  18 — the  word  used  is  simply  shani,  ""Jtr,  which, 
according  to  some  authorities,  signifies  double-dyed,  or,  accord- 
ing to  others,  deep  red,  bright  dye.^  As  the  curtains  of  the 
tfil)ernacle  contained  threads  of  this  colour  (Exod.  xxvi.  1),  it  is 
probable  that  the  spies  had  had  the  scarlet  cord  with  them  ;  and 
its  brilliant  colour  rendered  it  the  most  suitable  for  the  purpose 
to  which  it  was  now  to  be  appUed,  as  it  Could  be  easily  observed 
at  a  consi(Jerable  distance.  'Behold,'  says  Bishop  Hall,  'this 
is  the  Ravnig  colour:  the  destroying  angel  sees  the  door-cheeks 
of.  the  Israelites  sprinkled  with  red,  and  passes  over  them ;  the 

'  Kirl.y  and  Spence's  •Entomology,'  one  vol.,  edit.  1858,  pp.  181,  182. 

'  See  Bockmaus  'History  of  Inventions,'  vol.  i.,  pp.  392,  393.    Bohn's  edit. 


THE  SCARLET  CORD.  41 

warriors  of  Israel  see  the  window  of  Rahab  dyed  red,  and  save 
her  family  from  the  common  destruction.  If  our  souls  have  this 
tincture  of  the  precious  blood  of  our  Saviour  upon  our  doors 
'and  windows,  we  are  safe.'^ 

When  the  king's  messengers  left  the  city  in  pursuit  of  the 
spies,  'they  shut  the  gate.'  It  was  therefore  impossible  for  the 
two  men  to  depart  in  the  ordinary  way  that  night ;  and  had  they 
remained  until  the  next  day,  the  vigilance  of  the  king's  servants 
would  have  prevented  their  escape.  Under  these  circumstances, 
there  was  but  one  expedient  to  which  they  could  resort.  Happily 
for  them,  Rahab's  house  was  on  the  town- wall — the  back  of  it,  in 
which  there  was  a  window,  probably  jutting  out  beyond  the  wali 
over  the  path  beneath.  What  then  does  this  friendly  woman  ? 
With  a  strong  cord  she  lets  them  down,  one  after  the  other,  out 
of  this  window,  and  in  a  few  moments  they  are  both  safe  outside 
the  city.  That  a  woman  could  let  down  two  men  in  such  a 
way,  may  seem  incredible ;  but  she  would  have  the  assistance 
of  one  of  them  whilst  the  other  was  let  down,  and  the  first 
would  no  doubt  assist  his  companion  in  his  descent.  Besides 
which,  we  need  not  suppose  that  the  window  was  very  high ;  so 
that,  with  care,  the  task  would  easily  be  accomplished.^ 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  conversation  relative  to  the 
scarlet  thread ;  but  it  should  be  observed  that  it  actually  took 
place  under  the  window  of  the  dwelling, — for  they  said,  '  Behold, 
when  we  come  into  the  land,  thou  shalt  bind  this  line  of  scarlet 
thread  in  the  window  which  thou  didst  let  us  down  hy ; '  so  that 
both  the  order  in  which  the  circumstances  are  narrated,  and  the 
form  of  the  words  here  employed,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
this  arrangement  was  made  with  Rahab  after  she  had  let  them 
down  out  of  the  window.     The  scarlet  thread,  however,  was  not, 

^  '  Contemplations,'  Book  viii. 

'^  In  a  similar  manner  did  Saul  of  Tarsus  escape  from  the  city  of  Damascus. 
Acts  ix.  25. 


42  THE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JERICHO. 

as  some  have  supposed,  the  cord  she  used,  for  that  is  called  by 
another  name,  chevel  (^in) ;  so  that  they  no  doubt  fastened  the 
scarlet  thread  to  the  rope,  which  she  drew  up  and  took  care  of 
until  the  time  when  it  would  prove  of  such  essential  value. 

Rahab  had  probably  provided  them  with  food,  and  advised 
them  to  go  into  the  mountain  and  hide  themselves  three  days, 
lest  the  pursuers  should  meet  them.  They  acted  on  her  advice, 
and  fled  to  the  mountain.  There  were  mountains  on  the  west  of 
the  town,  on  the  north,  and  on  the  south.  It  is  not  probable 
that  they  would  go  to  the  west,  as  they  should  then  have  been 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  camp;  they  would  most 
probably  choose  the  north,  where  the  mountains  are  situated, 
to  which  the  name  Quarantana  was  afterwards  given,  and  by  the 
Arabs  Kuruntal.  Following  the  tradition  that  this  was  the  scene 
of  our  Lord's  temptation,  Milton  happily  describes  it  thus : — 

'  It  was  a  mountain  at  whose  verdant  feet 
A  spacious  plain,  outstretclied  in  circuit  wide. 
Lay  pleasant ;  from  his  side  two  rivers  flowed, 
Th'  one  winding,  th'  other  straight,  and  left  between 
Fair  champaign  with  less  rivers  interveign'd, 
Then  meeting,  joined  their  tribute  to  the  sea; 
Fertile  of  corn  the  glebe,  of  oil,  and  wine ; 
"With  herds  the  pastures  thi'ong'd,  with  flocks  the  hills ; 
Huge  cities,  and  high  tower'd,  that  well  might  seem 
The  seats  of  mightiest  monarchs  ;  and  so  large 
The  prospect  was,  that  here  and  there  was  room 
For  barren  desert,  fountainless,  and  diy. 
To  this  high  mountain,  too,  the  tempter  brought 
Our  Saviour,  and  now  train  of  words  began.'* 

Josephus  places  the  ancient  Jericho  near  a  fountain,  called  the 
fountain  ^  of  Elisha,  which  '  runs  very  plentifully,  and  is  very  fit 
for  watering  the  ground.' 2  Most  modern  travellers  admit  that 
he  is  correct ;  and  if  so,  tlie  spies  would  have  but  a  quarter  of  a 

■  '  Paradise  Kcgaiued,'  Book  iii.  256. 

-  '  Wars  of  the  Jews,'  Book  iv.  chap.  viii.  3. 


REPORT  OF  THE  SPIES.  43 

mile  to  walk  ere  they  found  themselves  on  the  mountain-side.  It 
rises  precipitously  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the  plain, 
and  its  eastern  front  is  full  of  natural  caverns  and  artificial 
grottoes,  once  the  abodes  of  superstitious  hermits.^  In  one  of 
these  caverns  the  spies  might  easily  hide  themselves  from  their 
pursuers ;  and  here  it  was,  no  doubt,  that  they  remained  three 
days,  patiently  waiting  until  they  could,  without  much  danger, 
venture  back  to  the  camp.  They  were  worthy  men,  and  performed 
their  task  well.  But  as  they  were  absent  so  long,  Joshua  would 
perhaps  be  somewhat  anxious  respecting  them ;  and  when  at 
length  they  stood  before  him,  he  would  give  them  a  most  cordial 
greeting. 

Very  different  was  their  report  to  that  of  the  ten  men  who 
had  accompanied  Joshua  and  Caleb  nearly  forty  years  before, 
and  glad  would  Joshua  be  that  their  fears  on  this  point  were 
not  realized.  '  They  told  him  all  things  that  befell  them :  and 
they  said  unto  Joshua,  Truly  the  Lord  hath  delivered  into  our 
hands  all  the  land :  for  even  all  the  country  do  faint  because  of 
us.'  It  was  principally  to  gain  information  relative  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Canaanites  that  Joshua  sent  the  men,  and  now  this 
is  their  report :  The  people  are  afraid  of  us ;  they  have  heard  of 
our  conquests,  and  are  faint-hearted  and  discouraged ;  they  are 
filled  with  consternation  on  account  of  what  Jehovah  has  done 
for  us,  and  they  are  utterly  unprepared  to  resist  our  arms. 
Quickly  the  tidings  would  spread  throughout  the  camp ;  and 
instead  of  the  murmurings  which  were  heard  aforetime,  there 
would  now  be  rejoicings  and  congratulations,  and  with  brave 
hearts  and  fearless  spirits  the  people  would  prepare  to  march 
forward  to  the  conquest. 

And  would  not  the  name  of  Kahab  be  in  honour  ?  She  had 
protected  and  shown  kindness  to  the  spies.  But  for  her,  they 
might  have  been  taken  prisoners  and  put  to  death.     To  her, 

'  Robinson's 'Eesearclies,' vol.  i.,  p.  567.     2d  edit.     Murray. 


44  THE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JERICHO. 

therefore,  the  whole  multitude  were  not  a  little  indebted,  and 
every  one  would  approve  of  the  promise  given  her  of  protection, 
and  be  willing  to  pledge  himself  that  the  promise  should  be 
kept.  How  it  was  kept,  and  how  Rahab  was  preserved,  we 
shall  see  hereafter ;  but  we  must  here  glance  for  a  moment  at 
her  subsequent  history.  She  doubtless  abandoned  heathenism, 
and  with  it  the  sins  to  which  she  had  been  addicted ;  and  sucli  is 
the  divine  mercy,  that  she  obtained  the  righteousness  whicb  is  of 
faith,  was  received  as  a  proselyte  into  the  Jewish  Church,  and 
became  a  partaker  of  the  privileges  of  God's  people.  Hebrew 
tradition  affirms  that  she  became  the  wife  of  Joshua  himself, 
and  the  ancestress  of  Jeremiah,  Maaseiah,  Hanameel,  Shallum, 
Baruch,  Ezekiel,  Neriah,  Seriah,  and  Huldah  the  prophetess.^ 
But  from  Matthew  i.  5  it  appears  that  she  was  married  to  Sal- 
mon the  son  of  Naason,  or  Nahshon,  and  became  the  mother  of 
Boaz,  and  through  his  line  an  ancestress  of  our  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour. It  is  true  that  doubts  have  been  entertained,  on  chrono- 
logical grounds,  whether  the  Rachab  of  this  passage  was  the 
Rahab  of  the  Book  of  Joshua ;  but,  as  Olshausen  observes,  the 
expression  17  'Paxa/3  (with  the  article)  clearly  points  to  the  known 
Rahab,  and  the  chronological  difficulties  are  by  no  means  in- 
surmountable. '  Nahshon,  the  father  of  Salmon,  the  prince  of 
Judah  (1  Chron.  ii.  10),  offered  his  offering  at  the  setting  up  of 
the  tabernacle  (Num.vii.  12),  thirty-nine  years  before  the  taking 
of  Jericho.  So  that  Salmon  would  be  of  mature  age  at  or  soon 
after  that  event,  at  which  time  Rahab  was  probably  young,  as 
her  father  and  mother  were  living.' 2  The  difficulty,  however, 
lies  in  tiie  fact,  that  according  to  the  received  chronology,  a 
period  ejapsed  between  Rahab  and  David  of  upwards  of  four 
hundred  years,  which  would  give  for  the  four  generations  men- 

'  See  Lightfoot's  '  Ilor.  Ileb.'  in  loco. 

'  Alfonl's  'Greek  Test.,'  vol.  i.,  Matt.  i.  5 ;  and  Lange's  Com.  on  St  Mati, 
p.  Gi.     Clfirk. 


THE  HONOUR  PUT  ON  RAHAB.  45 

tioued — Salmon.  Boaz,  Obed,  and  Jesse — an  average  of  more 
than  one  hundred  years.  Either,  then,  the  chronology  is  incorrect, 
and  must  be  considerably  reduced,  as  several  authorities  affirm, 
or  Matthew  has  not  included  all  the  generations,  as  Olshausen, 
KeiV  and  others  suppose.  And  this  is  the  more  probable  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulty,  as  it  is  certain  that  the  Jews  did  not  insert 
all  names  into  their  genealogical  lists. 

What  an  honour,  then,  was  conferred  on  Kahab,  that  she,  a 
poor  Gentile,  should  become,  however  remotely,  an  ancestress  of 
the  Messiah !  The  same  honour  was  conferred  on  another  Gentile 
woman — Ruth  the  Moabitess;^  and  thus  the  genealogy  of  our 
Lord  is  not  purely  Jewish,  but  contains  these  Gentile  elements, 
as  if  to  intimate  that  He  was  to  become,  as  we  know  He  has  be- 
come, the  Saviour  of  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  of  the  Jews.  And 
that  Kahab  had  her  full  share  in  the  blessings  of  redemption,  who 
can  doubt  ?  Whether  her  faith  apprehended  the  promise  of  the 
Messiah,  received  by  tradition  through  Abraham,  we  know  not ; 
but  when  she  became  the  wife  of  Salmon,  if  not  before,  she  would 
doubtless  hear  of  the  expected  Deliverer,  and  would  believe  ir 
Him.     Dante,  therefore,  places  her  in  Paradise,  and  says : — 

'  Know,  then,  the  soul  of  Kahab 
Is  in  that  gladsome  harbour,  to  our  tribe 
United,  and  the  foremost  rank  assign'd. 
She  to  this  heaven,  at  which  the  shadow  ends 
Of  your  sublunar  world,  was  taken  up, 
First  in  Christ's  triumph,  of  all  souls  redeem'd : 
For  well  behoved,  that,  in  some  part  of  heaven, 
She  should  remain  a  trophy,  to  declare 
The  mighty  conquest  won  with  either  palm ; 
For  that  she  favour'd  first  the  high  exploit 
Of  Joshua  on  the  Holy  Land.'  ^ 

This  is  not  mere  poetry.  Rahab  was  indeed  a  trophy  of 
redeeming  love ;  and  her  history,  like  that  of  many  others,  affords 

'  '  Comm.  on  Joshua,'  p.  172,  note.         ^  Rutii  iv.  17,  comp.  Matt.  i.  5. 
2  Carey's  Dante,  '  Paradise,'  Canto  ix. 


46  THE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JERICHO. 

ground  of  hope  for  sinners  of  more  than  ordinary  guilt.  If  this 
poor  Gentile  harlot  obtained  mercy,  while  yet  the  Gentiles  as  a 
race  were  strangers  to  the  covenant  of  promise,  who  need  now 
despair,  since  the  door  of  faith  has  been  opened  to  the  Gentile 
and  the  Jew  alike?  But  her  history  presents  to  us  another 
lesson  also.  It  reminds  us  of  the  saying  of  St  Paul,  '  Be  not 
forgetful  to  entertain  strangers :  for  thereby  some  have  enter- 
tained angels  unawares.'^  To  her  the  spies  were  as  angels,  sent 
to  warn  her  of  coming  judgments.  She  received  them,  she  lodged 
them,  she  sent  them  away  in  peace ;  '  therefore  her  reward  was 
sure,  so  that  she  was  not  only  preserved  in  life,  but  received 
more  grace  unto  salvation,  for  the  sake  of  her  vigorous  first  faith. 
And  with  her  we  may  compare  those  who  are  disposed  to  come 
out  of  the  world,  and  enter  among  the  people  of  God,  who  re- 
ceive the  disciples  of  Christ  and  give  them  food  in  His  name, 
because  they  are  His  disciples.' ^  None  such  shall  lose  their  re- 
ward ;  for  an  act  of  kindness  done  to  one  of  His  servants  is  con- 
sidered by  our  Lord  as  done  to  Himself,  and  He  will  remember 
it  in  the  day  when  He  shall  call  the  nations  to  His  bar.  To 
such  as  Bahab  it  will  be  said  in  that  day,  'I  was  a  stranger,  and 
ye  took  Me  in.' 

Returning  to  the  narrative,  we  find  the  vast  camp  of  the 
Israelites  once  more  in  motion ;  for  '  Joshua  rose  early  in  the 
morning ;  and  they  removed  from  Shittim,  and  came  to  Jordan, 
he  and  all  the  children  of  Israel'  (chap.  iii.  1).  The  words  are 
brief,  but  they  present  to  us  a  picture  of  the  most  lively  interest. 
Several  months  had  elapsed  since  the  people  pitched  their  tents 
in  that  locality,  during  which  many  events  of  thrilling  importance 
in  their  history  had  occurred,  such  as  the  stratagem  of  Balak, 
the  defeat  of  Sihon,  the  battle  at  Edrei,  and  the  death  of  Moses ; 
but  now  their  tents  were  once  more  struck,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  famines  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  the  half-tribe  of 

•  Hob.  xiii.  2.  ■-'  Sticr  ou  'St  James,  p.  359.     Clark. 


PEEP>VBATIONS  FOR  THE  PASSAGE.  47 

Manasseh,  the  whole  assembly  of  the  children  of  Israel  left  the 
desert  plains  of  Moab,  and  moved  towards  the  valley  of  the  Jor- 
dan, preparatory  to  the  transit  of  the  river  and  their  entrance 
on  the  promised  land.  This  valley,  which  is  called  by  the  Arabs 
El  Ghor,  is  here  fifteen  miles  in  breadth,  two-thirds  of  which 
lie  on  the  western  side  of  the  river ;  so  that  the  people  must  have 
spread  themselves  up  and  down  its  banks  for  a  distance  of  several 
leagues.  Forty  years  before,  their  fathers  had  stood  in  like 
manner  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  Sea,  soon  after  their  departure 
from  Egypt;  and,  as  children,  many  of  the  present  generation 
too  were  there.  But  the  greater  number  of  them  would  have 
but  a  faint  recollection  of  that  event;  and  though  they  had 
heard  from  their  parents  of  the  wondrous  miracle  which  God 
then  wrought  on  their  behalf,  they  would  possess  but  a  very  in- 
adequate conception  of  the  scene  which  then  occurred.  Now, 
however,  they  were  about  to  witness  another  display  of  Jehovah's 
power ;  and  their  enemies  would  hear  that  He  who  had  divided 
the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  before  them,  was  still  their  Dehverer 
and  their  God. 

Three  days  were  spent  in  this  locality,  during  which  all 
possible  attention  would,  of  course,  be  paid  to  the  preparations 
necessary  for  conducting  the  host,  the  women,  the  children,  and 
the  cattle,  over  the  river  with  as  little  confusion  as  possible. 
At  the  end  of  the  three  days  the  Shoterim  went  through  the 
host,  giving  instructions  to  the  people  that  when  they  saw  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  their  God,  borne  by  the  Priests 
and  Levites,  they  should  follow  it;  leaving,  however,  a  space 
between  it  and  them  of  two  thousand  cubits,  that  they  might 
know  the  way  by  which  they  should  go,  for  they  had  not  passed 
that  way  before.  It  has  been  supposed  that  this  injunction  was 
given  because  of  the  sacredness  of  the  ark ;  but  this  space  was 
to  intervene  that  the  people  might  see  their  way,  for,  as  Keil 
observes,  had  they  'followed  en  masse  close  upon  the  heels  of 


48  THE  SPIES  SENT  TO  JERICUO. 

the  priests  who  were  carrying  the  ark,  from  the  pressure  of  the 
crowd,  those  who  were  nearest  it  would  have  completely  hidden 
it  from  the  rest,  and  thus  have  prevented  the  more  distant  from 
seeing  the  way  which  it  opened  before  them.'  And  now  the 
voice  of  Joshua  was  heard,  and  his  words  were  conveyed  to  the 
utmost  extremity  of  the  camp — 'Sanctify  yourselves;  for  to- 
morrow the  Lord  will  do  wonders  among  you.'  It  was  a  similar 
command  to  that  given  by  the  Lord  to  Moses  just  prior  to  the 
promulgation  of  the  law :  '  Go  unto  the  people,  and  sanctify  them 
to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  let. them  w^ash  their  clothes,  and  be 
ready  against  the  third  day.'^  God  was  about  to  reveal  His 
presence  in  an  extraordinary  manner  on  the  following  da}^,  and 
to  perform  a  miracle  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  equalled  only 
by  the  dividing  of  the  Red  Sea ;  and  now,  therefore,  they  were 
to  prepare  themselves  for  His  coming,  by  washmg  their  clothes, 
by  abstinence  from  all  sensual  enjoyments,  and  by  a  renewed 
consecration  of  themselves  to  His  service.  The  solemn  injunc- 
tion was  obeyed  ;  and  that  night  the  camp  would  present  an  ex- 
traordinary scene  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer  ;  whilst  many 
thousands  would  perhaps  wash  themselves  in  the  waters  of  that 
river,  on  the  opposite  shores  of  which  they  were  soon  to  stand. 

When  an  entire  people  is  on  the  eve  of  some  great  national 
event,  the  excitement  increases  as  the  anticipated  hour  draws 
nigh.  How  intense  must  have  been  the  emotions  of  the  Israel- 
ites as  the  hours  of  that  evening  sped  away,  and  as  the  dawn  of 
the  following  morning  broke  upon  the  camp !  Early  would  their 
slumbers  cease,  and  soon  the  entire  multitude  would  be  in  readi- 
ness for  the  expected  sign.  And  what  congratulations  would 
be  heard  among  the  different  tribes !  '  We  are  to  pass  over  the 
river  this  day.  This  day  we  are  to  take  possession  of  the  land 
which  God  promised  unto  our  fathers.  We  are  now  about  to 
begin  the  conquest  of  the  country  which  is  to  be  our  resting-place 

•  Exod.  xix.  10,  11,  and  14,  15. 


COxVFIDENCE  OF  SUCCESS.  49 

and  home.'  Thus  would  parents  address  their  children,  and  thus 
would  friend  converse  with  friend ;  and  every  countenance  would 
beam  with  joy,  and  every  heart  be  animated  with  hope.  No 
anxiety  would  be  felt  as  to  the  result,  for  the  people's  confidence 
in  God,  and  in  His  servant  Joshua,  was  now  firm  and  fixed. 
For  murmuring  there  was  no  room.  They  saw  that  the  Lord 
Jehovah  was  in  their  midst ;  they  were  satisfied  that  their  com- 
mander was  acting  under  His  directions  and  control ;  and,  what- 
ever difficulties  they  might  have  to  encounter,  they  believed  that 
before  the  advancing  hosts  all  such  difficulties  would  give  way. 


:LIEiIORIAL  STONES 


CHAPTER    IV 


THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 


]  ^LL  was  ready,  and  early  that  morning  Joshua  said  unto 
the  priests,  '  Take  up  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  pass 
over  before  the  people'  (chap.  iii.  G). 
But  '  the  Jordan  overfloweth  all  his  banks  all  the  time  of 
harvest' (iii.  15);  a  statement  which  is  confirmed  by  other  pas- 
sa,u:es  in  the  writings  of  the  Hebrews.  In  1  Chron.  xii.  15  it  is 
said,  '  Tliese  are  they  that  went  over  Jordan  in  the  .first  month 
(about  the  latter  end  of  March),  when  it  had  overflown  all  its 
banks.*    From  Jcr.  xlix.  I'J,  1.  M,  we  learn  that  these  sv/ellings 


THE  SOUKCES  OF  THE  JORDAN.  51 

drove  the  lion  from  his  lair ;  aud  the  writer  of  the  apocryphal 
book  of  Ecclesiasticus  says,  '  He  maketh  the  understanding  to 
abound  like  Euphrates,  and  as  Jordan  in  the  time  of  harvest' 
(chap.  xxiv.  26).  To  understand  the  position  of  the  Israelites 
at  this  moment,  it  will  be  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of 
these  ^  sweUings,'  and  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  their  extent ;  the 
more  so,  as  several  objections  have  been  raised  to  the  accuracy 
and  truthfulness  of  the  BibHcal  representation.  '  It  is,'  however 
*  a  plain  and  honest  statement  of  a  simple  fact,  as  literally  true 
now  as  when  Joshua  led  the  ransomed  tribes  into  Canaan.  All 
we  need  in  order  to  clear  the  passage  from  obscurity  and  doubt, 
is  an  adequate  acquaintance  with  the  phenomena  of  the  country 
and  the  river.' ^ 

The  Jordan — or,  as  the  word  signifies,  'the  Descender' — 
takes  its  rise  in  the  far  north,  at  the  base  of  the  snowy  Hermon. 
Here  there  are  innumerable  springs  and  fountains,  which  find 
their  way  southwards,  and  probably  unite  with  what  are  sup- 
posed by  most  authorities  to  be  the  two  principal  sources  of 
the  river, — the  cave  of  Banias,  and  the  hill  of  Dan.  Of  the 
former,  Josephus,  who  calls  it  Panim,  says,  '  This  is  a  very  fine 
cave  in  a  mountain,  under  which  there  is  a  great  cavity  in  the 
earth ;  and  the  cavern  is  abrupt  and  prodigiously  deep,  and  full 
of  still  water.  Over  it  hangs  a  vast  mountain,  and  under  the 
cavern  arise  the  springs  of  the  river  Jordan.'  The  latter  is 
called  by  the  same  writer  the  source  of  the  Lesser  Jordan ;  but 
it  is  here  that  the  largest  fountain  in  Syria  takes  its  rise ;  and  as 
Dr  Thomson  witnessed  it,  he  thus  wrote : — '  The  young  Jordan ! 
type  of  this  strange  life  of  ours!  Bright  and  beautiful  in  its 
cradle,  laughing  in  its  merry  morning  away  through  the  flowery 
fields  of  the  Huleh ;  plunging,  with  the  recklessness  of  youth, 
into  the  tangled  brakes  and  muddy  marshes  of  Merom ;  hurrying 

'  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  by  W.  M.  Thomson,  D.D.,  p.  619.    English 
edit.     Nelson. 


52  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

thence,  full-growD,  like  earnest  manhood  with  its  noisy  and  bus- 
tling activities,  it  subsides  at  length  into  life's  sober  midday  in 
tlie  placid  Lake  of  Gcnnesaret.  When  it  goes  forth  again,  it  is 
do^Yn  the  inevitable  procUvity  of  old  age,  sinking  deeper  and 
deeper,  in  spite  of  doublings  and  windings  innumerable,  until 
finally  lost  in  the  bitter  sea  of  Death,  that  melancholy  bourne 
from  which  there  is  neither  escape  nor  return.'^ 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  there  are  at  least  four  principal 
sources  of  the  Jordan,  with  several  smaller  ones,  all  which  meet 
before  the  river  enters  the  Lake  Huleh,  and  all  which  are  more 
or  less  affected  by  the  melting  of  the  snows  of  Hermon.  '  The 
Jordan  is  made  up  from  the  joint  contributions  of  great  per- 
manent springs ;  and  in  this  fact  we  find  the  explanation  of  the 
overflow  of  the  river  so  late  in  the  season  as  March.  These 
immense  fountains  do  not  feel  the  efTects  of  the  early  winter 
rains  at  all.  It  requires  the  heavy  and  long-continued  storms  of 
mid-winter  before  they  are  moved  in  the  least ;  and  it  is  not  until 
toward  the  close  of  winter,  when  the  melting  snows  of  Hermon 
and  Lebanon,  with  the  heavy  rains  of  the  season,  have  penetrated 
through  the  mighty  masses  of  these  mountains,  and  filled  to 
overflowing  their  hidden  chambers  and  vast  reservoirs,  that  the 
streams  gush  forth  in  their  full  volume.  The  Huleh — marsh 
and  lake — is  filled,  and  then  Gennesaret  rises,  and  pours  its  ac- 
cumulated waters  into  the  swelling  Jordan  about  the  1st  of 
March.  Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  it  does  actually  "  overflow 
all  its  banks  during  all  the  time  of  harvest;"  nor  does  it  soon 
subside,  as  other  short  rivers  do,  when  the  rains  cease.  These 
fountains  continue  to  pour  forth  their  contributions  for  months 
with  undim'inished  volume,  and  the  river  keeps  full  and  strong 
all  through  March  into  April,  and  the  proper  banks  of  the  river 
arc  still  full  to  overflowing  in  the  time  of  harvest.' 

Such  is  the  explanation  of  the  swelling  of  the  Jordan  given 
'  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  214. 


SWELLING  OF  THE  JORDAN.  53 

by  Dr  Thomson,  who  also  observes,  that  he  visited  the  scene  of 
the  miracle  on  the  1st  of  April,  and  '  found  the  river  full  to  the 
brim,  and  saw  abundant  evidence  that  it  had  overflowed  its  banks 
very  recently.'^  Dr  Robinson,  however,  says  that  the  Hebrew 
expressions  signify  nothing  more  than  that  the  Jordan  '  was  full, 
or  filled  up  to  all  its  banks,'  meaning  '  the  banks  of  its  channel.' 2 
Yet  he  himself  observes,  that  when  he  saw  it  on  the  12th  of  May 
1838,  the  low  banks  of  the  channel,  in  the  vicinity  opposite 
Jericho,  were  covered  with  water,  and  that  there  was  a  still, 
though  very  rapid,  current.  That  the  Jordan  does  not,  like  the 
Nile,  cover  a  vast  tract  of  country  by  its  overflow,  is  acknow- 
ledged ;  but  the  river  may  be  said  to  have  '  three  sets  of  banks ; 
viz.,  the  upper  or  outer  ones,  forming  the  first  descent  from  the 
level  of  the  great  valley;  the  lower  or  middle  ones,  enclosing 
the  tract  of  canes  and  other  vegetation ;  and  the  actual  banks  of 
the  channel.'  Now  the  water  sometimes  rises  to  the  very  tops 
of  these  inner  banks,  and  even  reaches  to  the  roots  of  the  bushes 
in  the  middle  ones ;  the  breadth  of  the  stream  is  then  from  eighty 
to  a  hundred  feet,  its  depth  ten  or  twelve  feet,  and  its  current 
so  strong  that  an  experienced  swimmer  will  be  carried  down 
several  yards  in  crossing.^ 

The  course  of  the  Jordan  is  not  more,  in  a  straight  line, 
than  70  miles ;  but  such  is  its  tortuosity,  that  its  actual  length 
was  found  by  the  American  expedition,  under  Captain  Lynch, 
to  be  at  least  200  miles.  The  Sea  of  Tiberias  is  328  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Dead  Sea  1311  feet,— a 
difference  in  the  level  of  the  two  seas  of  983  feet,  giving  room 
for  three  cataracts,  each  equal  to  the  Niagara.  And  cataracts 
there  are,  with  many  rapids.  Captain  Lynch  passed  down  27  of 
the  latter  which  were  very  threatening,  together  with  several 

»  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  619.  -  '  Kesearches,'  vol.  i.,  p.  53G. 

3  Robinson,  vol.  i.,  p.  536,  etc. ;  comp.  '  Lord  Lindsay's  Letters,'  and  Van 
de  Velde's  '  Syria  and  Palestine,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  322,  etc 


4 

54  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

others  of  a  less  fearful  character.^  Well,  then,  may  the  river  be 
called  the  Descender,  and  well  may  its  current,  when  it  oyerflows 
its  banks,  be  formidable  to  encounter,  even  by  those  accustomed 
to  such  tasks. 

We  may  now  form  a  conception  of  the  position  of  the  Is- 
raeUtes  at  this  moment.  They  had  encamped  in  the  Ghor,  on 
the  upper  banks  of  the  river  ;  but  they  were  now  commanded  to 
strike  their  tents  and  to  proceed  towards  the  lower  banks,  which 
were  covered  with  bushes  of  luxuriant  green.  There,  however, 
the  waters  were  before  them,  rolling  down,  if  not  impetuously, 
yet  with  considerable  rapidity,  and  reaching  to  the  roots  of  the 
trees  that  ran  along  the  river's  side.  What  was  that  vast  multi- 
tude of  men,  women,  and  little  children,  together  with  all  their 
droves  of  cattle  and  of  sheep,  to  do  ?  How  were  they  to  pass 
the  flood,  and  to  reach  in  safety  the  farther  side  of  the  stream  ? 
When,  in  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Goths, 
amounting  to  nearly  a  milHon  of  persons  of  both  sexes  and  of  all 
ages,  crossed  the  Danube,  which  had  been  swelled  by  incessant 
rains,  a  large  fleet  of  vessels,  of  boats  and  of  canoes,  was  pro- 
vided ;  yet  many  days  and  nights  they  passed  and  repassed  with 
indefatigable  toil,  and,  notwithstanding  the  most  strenuous  efforts 
of  the  oflBcers,  many  were  swept  away  and  drowned  by  the  rapid 
violence  of  the  current.^  But  here  were  two  milHons  of  people, 
who,  in  some  way  or  other,  must  be  transported  to  the  opposite 
banks  of  the  river  which  was  before  them.  It  is  evident,  then, 
that  God  must  interfere  on  their  behalf.  And  interfere  He  did. 
'  This  day,'  said  He  to  Joshua,  'will  I  begin  to  magnify  thee  in 
the  sight  of  all  Israel,  that  they  may  know  that,  as  I  was  with 
Moses,  so  I  .will  be  with  thee.  And  thou  shalt  command  the 
priests  that  bear  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  saying,  When  ye  are 

'  I-yncli's 'Narrative  of  the  Uuitcd  States  Expedition.' 
'  6co  tho  account  in  Gibbon's  '  Decline  and  Fall,'  etc.,  Milman's  edit, 
Tol.  iii.,  ji.  321. 


ZARETAN  AND  ADAM.  55 

come  to  the  brink  of  Jordan,  ye  shall  stand  still  in  Jordan' 
(chap.  iii.  7,  8).  Joshua  then  addressed  the  people,  and  said, 
'Come  hither,  and  hear  the  words  of  the  Lord  your  God;'  and, 
repeating,  as  it  were,  God's  message,  he  told  them  that,  as  a 
pledge  of  future  victories  over  the  Canaanites  and  other  inhabit- 
ants of  the  land,  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  would  pass 
over  before  them  into  the  river,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  soles  of 
the  priests'  feet  rested  on  the  river's  brink,  it  would  be  cut  off, 
and  the  waters  above  would  stand  upon  a  heap.  The  people 
doubted  not  his  word.  All  were  ready  to  obey  the  signal.  All 
were  prepared  to  follow  their  guides. 

And  now  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  which,  from  the  dedication 
of  the  tabernacle,  had  been  the  appointed  symbol  of  God's 
gracious  presence,  is  lifted  up  on  the  shoulders  of  the  priests, 
and  borne  towards  the  brink  of  the  descending  river.  When 
the  Red  Sea  was  divided  before  the  Israelites,  Moses  lifted  up 
his  rod,  for  then  the  ark  had  not 'been  made;  but  'where  the 
ordinary  means  of  grace  exist,  the  goodness  and  power  of  God 
operate  through  them,  and  not  directly;'^  and,  therefore,  now 
the  miracle  is  wrought  through  the  medium  of  this  symbol  of 
Jehovah's  power.  Slowly  and  solemnly  the  priests  advance 
with  their  precious  treasure,  when  no  sooner  do  their  feet  touch 
the  Jordan,  than  instantly  its  progress  is  arrested,  and  the  waters 
stand  up  in  a  heap,  '  far  from  the  city  Adam,  which  is  beside 
Zaretan,'  leaving  the  channel  of  the  river  dry  for  a  distance  of 
several  miles. 

Zaretan  is  no  doubt  identical  with  the  Zarthan  of  1  Kings 
vii.  46,  where  all  the  brazen  vessels  of  the  temple  were  cast,  'in 
the  plain  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  clay  ground  between  Succoth  and 
Zarthan.'  Succoth  lay  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Jordan,  not 
far  from  Beisan  or  Bethshean ;  and  accordingly  Yan  de  Yelde 
identifies   Zaretan  with  Surtabeh,  on  the  western  bank,  a  pe- 

^  Keil's  Comm.  in  loco.     Clark. 


56  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

culiar  mountain  group  in  the  Ghor,  south  of  Wadj-el-Feirah, 
on  the  highest  peak  of  which,  called  Kurn  el-Surtabeyh,  he 
found  'the  ruins  of  an  ancient  castle,  probably  the  citadel  of 
the  proper  town  of  Zarthau,  which  must  have  been  at  its  base.' 
The  city  Adam  he  supposes  to  have  stood  between  the  mountain 
and  the  Jordan,  where  large  hewn  stones  are  found  scattered 
about ;  but  the  name  of  the  city  has  not  been  preserved.^ 

Here,  then,  ten  miles  above  Jericho,  and  upwards  of  twenty 
above  the  Dead  Sea,  did  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  stop,  as  if  a 
bar  of  ice  had  suddenly  been  formed  across  the  river  to  pre- 
vent their  progress ;  and  this  entire  space,  of  between  twenty 
and  thirty  miles,  formed  a  passage  for  the  mighty  host.  For 
the  waters  below  would,  of  course,  rapidly  run  off  into  the 
sea,  and,  though  the  bed  of  the  river  would  not  become 
perfectly  dry,  it  would  be  sufficiently  so  to  render  the  pas- 
sage easy  even  for  children;  nor  would  there  be,  even  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  people,  any  sign  of  danger,  for  '  the  heap,' 
into  which  the  river  '  rose  up,'  would  be  far  away  out  of  their 
sight. 

Having  entered  the  bed  of  the  river,  there  the  priests  remain ; 
and  so  long  as  the  ark  of  the  covenant  is  there,  the  waters  are 
obedient  to  their  Creator's  word.  '  How  observant  are  all  the 
creatures  to  the  God  that  made  them !  How  glorious  a  God 
do  we  serve,  whom  all  the  powers  of  the  heavens  and  elements 
are  willingly  subject  unto,  and  gladly  take  that  nature  which 
He  pleases  to  give  them !  He  coulu  have  made  Jordan  Hke  some 
solid  pavement  of  crystal  for  the  Israehtes'  feet  to  have  trod 
upon,  but  this  work  had  not  been  so  magnificent.  Every  strong 
frost  congeals  the  water  in  a  natural  course ;  but  for  a  river  to 
stand  still,  and  run  on  heaps,  and  to  be  made  a  hquid  wall  for 

•  '  Syria  and  Palestine,  vol.  ii.,  p.  323,  and  Memoir  accompanying  the  Map, 
p.  354.  Comp.  Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  302,  and  Keil's  '  Commentary 
on  1  Kings,'  vol.  i.,  p.  135.     Clark. 


THE  WATERS  CUT  OFF.  57 

the  passage  of  God's  people,  is  for  nature  to  run  out  of  itself,  to 
do  homage  to  her  Creator.'  ^ 

At  the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  ark  of  the  covenant  the 
people  commenced  their  march,  and  thus  the  vast  host  see  clearly 
the  way  which  it  has  gradually  opened  up  before  them.  The 
foremost  ranks  soon  reach  the  bed  of  the  river,  where  they  find 
the  ark  resting  on  their  right ;  and  rank  after  rank  of  soldiers 
clad  in  armour,  of  women  and  of  children,  and  of  herdsmen  with 
their  droves  of  cattle,  pass  through  the  Jordan,  some  of  them 
but  just  able,  if  at  all,  to  see  the  symbol  of  the  divine  presence 
by  which  they  are  preserved,  but  all  of  them  exulting  in  the 
mighty  work  which  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  performing  before  their 
eyes.  And  none  of  that  great  multitude,  save  those  who  have 
already  received  their  inheritance,  are  left  behind.  '  The  priests, 
that  bare  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  stood  firm  on 
dry  ground  in  the  midst  of  Jordan,  and  all  the  Israelites  passed 
over  on  dry  ground,  until  all  the  people  were  passed  clean  over 
Jordan.' 2  And  now  they  wend  their  way  up  the  western  banks 
to  the  vast  plain — which,  according  to  Robinson,  is  from  ten 
to  twelve  miles  in  breadth,^ — that  lies  on  the  western  side  of 
the  river ;  the  foremost  ranks  reaching  it,  ere  the  hindermost 
have  entered  the  river's  bed.  We  hear  of  no  song  of  praise  as 
they  set  foot  in  the  land  promised  to  their  fathers,  like  that  with 
which  they  rent  the  air  after  their  passage  through  the  waters 
of  the  Red  Sea ;  but  could  they  refrain  from  giving  expression  to 
their  emotions  ?  Would  there  be  no  burst  of  joy  and  thankfulness 
for  this  signal  proof  of  God's  goodness  and  power?  Doubtless 
there  would :  for  the  Lord  magnified  Himself  that  day  before 
their  eyes,  and  gave  them  a  pledge  of  glorious  conquests  here- 
after to  be  won. 

It  was  fitting  that  some  memorial  should  be  raised  to  cele- 

^  Bishop  Hall's  '  Contemplations,'  Book  viii.  ^  Josh.  iii.  17. 

'  'Researches,'  vol.  i.,  p.  559. 


58  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JOEDAX. 

brate  the  event,  and  to  perpetuate  the  knowledge  of  it  to  future 
generations.  Ah'eadj  twelve  men  had  been  chosen,  one  from 
each  tribe,  who  were  now  commanded  to  go  into  the  midst  of 
the  Jordan,  and  take  thence  each  man  a  stone,  such  as  he  could 
bear  upon  his  shoulder ;  and  these  stones  were  brought  together, 
and  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  camp.  Whether  thej  were  set 
up  side  by  side,  or  one  upon  another,  w^e  are  not  informed ;  but 
Josephus  says  that  an  altar  was  constructed  of  them,  and  Dr 
Kitto  observes,  that  '  as  the  stones  were  not,  singly,  larger  than 
one  man  could  carry,  this  seems  not  unhkely.'^ 

But  ere  these  stones  were  actually  set  up,  '  Joshua  set  up' 
other  '  twelve  stones  in  the  midst  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  place 
where  the  feet  of  the  priests  who  bare  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
stood.' ^  Commentators  and  critics  have  stumbled  at  this  verse, 
and  have  supposed  it  to  be  spurious ;  whilst  others  have  con- 
tended that  it  is  a  short  and  somewhat  different  account  of  the 
same  event.  Both  these  views  are  manifestly  incorrect.  It  is 
true  that  w^e  do  not  read  of  any  command  given  to  Joshua  to 
set  up  these  twelve  stones,  but  the  divine  commands  are  not 
all  expressly  reported  in  this  book;  and  if  it  be  objected  that 
such  a  memorial,  erected  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  would  have 
been  of  no  use,  we  may  reply,  with  Calvin,  that  'the  top  of 
the  heap  may  have  been  sometimes  seen  when  the  river  fell.' 
Keil  supposes  that  the  priests  did  not  stand  in  the  bed. of  the 
river,  but  upon  the  eastern  banks,  and  that  these  stones  were 
set  up  there ;  so  that  when  the  waters  returned  to  their  proper 
channel,  the  stones  would  be  left  dry..  And  what  if  this  me- 
morial did  not  remain  long !  It  was  designed  for  the  existing 
generation,  and  especially,  perhaps,  for  the  two  tribes  and  a  half 
whose  inheritance  w^as  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river.  We 
have  no  doubt,  then,  that  the  historian  is  perfectly  correct ;  and 
that,  as  the  LXX.  and  the  Vulgate  read  the  passage,  '  other 

'  '  rictorial  Bible  '  in  loco.  2  JosL.  iv.  9. 


THE  PASSAGE  COMPLETED.  N^       59 

twelve  stones' — aWovs  ScoSfxa  \t6ovs — were  set  up  here,  to  ma'irk 
the  very  spot  where  the  feet  of  the  priests  had  stood.  Perhaps 
they  were  larger  stones  than  the  others;  and  it  may  be,  that  if  they 
were  ever  thrown  down  by  the  violence  of  the  current,  the  people 
would  re-erect  them,  and  thus  preserve  the  memorial  for  years. 

Let  us  now  picture  to  ourselves  the  scene  at  this  moment. 
The  day  is  far  spent ;  the  twelve  stones  have  been  set  up  in  the 
Jordan — the  priests  bearing  the  ark  still  waiting  there,  until  this 
work  also  is  accomplished;  the  twelve  men  with  the  other  twelve 
stones  are  proceeding  towards  the  place  where  the  people  are 
to  encamp ;  and  the  whole  of  the  nine  tribes  and  a  half,  together 
with  forty  thousand  armed  men  of  the  other  two  tribes  and  a 
half,  have  reached  in  safety  the  western  plain;  when  Joshua,  at 
God's  command,  says  to  the  priests,  '  Come  ye  up  out  of  Jordan.' 
Solemnly,  and  not  in  haste,  they  also  cross  the  river,  and,  per- 
naps  passing  through  the  midst  of  the  vast  assembly,  proceed 
again  to  the  front ;  and  no  sooner  are  the  soles  of  their  feet 
planted  on  the  dry  land,  than  the  waters  return  unto  their 
place,  and  flow  over  all  their  banks  as  they  did  before.  Thus 
does  the  Lord  magnify  Joshua  in  the  sight  of  all  Israel.  Yet 
'this  was  not,'  as  Calvin  observes,  'the  chief  design  of  the 
miracle,  to  exalt  the  power  and  authority  of  Joshua.  But  as 
it  was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  people  generally  that 
the  government  of  Joshua  should  be  firmly  established,  it  is  very 
properly  mentioned  as  the  crowning  advantage  resulting  from 
it,  that  he  was,  as  it  were,  invested  with  sacred  insignia,  which 
produced  such  veneration  among  the  people  that  no  one  dared 
to  despise  him.' 

To  the  spot  whither  the  people  journeyed  that  day,  was 
subsequently  given  the  name  Gilgal,  which  occurs  in  chap.  iv. 
19,  20,  by  anticipation.  According  to  Josephus,  it  was  about 
six  miles  from  the  river,  and  ten  from  Jericho  ;^  and  in  the  time 

1  '  Antiq.'  V.  1,  4. 


GO  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

of.  Jerome  the  site  of  the  encampment  was  still  distinguishable. 
But  the  exact  position  of  Gilgal  has  not  been  ascertained.  Dr 
Thomson  observes,  that  if  Joshua  crossed  due  east  of  Jericho, 
and  if  Josephus  is  correct  in  his  numbers,  then  Gilgal  must  have 
been  very  near  the  present  Riha ;  an  opinion  also  entertained  by 
Dr  Ixobinson.  There  are,  however,  no  traces  of  antiquity  here, 
except  a  fragment  of  sienite  granite,  and  some  foundations  of 
unhewn  stones;  so. that  if  Gilgal  became  an  inhabited  place,  it  was 
probably  abandoned  at  an  early  period.^ 

Here,  then,  the  '  sons  of  Israel,'  b^']\^]  ""pB,  as  they  are  called, 
because  each  one  represented  the  tribe  to  which  he  belonged, 
set  up  the  twelve  stones  which  they  had  taken  out  of  the  river ; 
and  then  Joshua  addressed  the  people,  and  said,  '  When  your 
children  shall  ask  their  fathers  in  time  to  come,  saying.  What 
mean  these  stones?  then  ye  shall  let  your  children  know,  say- 
ing, Israel  came  over  this  Jordan  on  dry  land.  For  the  Lord 
your  God  dried  up  the  waters  of  Jordan  from  before  you,  until 
ye  were  passed  over,  as  the  Lord  your  God  did  to  the  Red  Sea, 
which  He  dried  up  before  us,  until  we  were  gone  over  ;  that  all 
the  people  of  the  earth  might  know  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  that 
it  is  mighty ;  that  ye  might  fear  the  Lord  your  God  for  ever.'^ 
It  was  a  solemn  and  interesting  scene ;  and  the  address  of  Joshua 
intimates  that  the  design  of  the  two  miracles  v*'as  to  prove  to 
the  heathen  the  omnipotence  of  Jehovah,  and  to  induce  the  Is- 
raelites to  continue  in  the  practice  of  the  worship  of  their  father's 
God.  National  favours  call  for  national  acknowledgments  and 
praise  ;  and  the  erection  of  these  stones  was  a  significant  mode 
of  giving  expression  to  the  feelings  of  the  people,  as  well  as 
of  raising  a  memorial  which  should  perpetuate  the  remembrance 
of  the  event  in  future  years.      Similarly  did  Jacob,  centuries 

'  'Tlie  Land  and  the  Eook,'  p.  612;  Robinson's  'Researches,*  vol.  i.,  p. 
'  Josh.  iv.  21-24. 


MEMOKIALS.  61 

before  this,  set  up  the  stone  which  had  served  for  his  pillow  at 
Bethel,  and  pour  oil  upon  the  top  of  it;^  and  similarly  did 
Samuel,  two  hundred  years  after,  set  up  a  stone  between  Mizpeh 
and  Shen,  and  call  it  Ebenezer,  or  the  stone  of  help,  saying, 
'Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us.'^  These  twelve  stones,  like 
Samuel's  one,  might  have  been  called,  and  were  called  in  effect, 
Ebenezer  also,  for  God  had  hitherto  helped  His  people  in  an 
extraordinary  way ;  and  well  might  they  have  sung — as  perhaps, 
indeed,  they  did — '  Thou  hast  with  Thine  arm  redeemed  Thy 
people,  the  sons  of  Jacob  and  Joseph.  The  waters  saw  Thee, 
0  God,  the  waters  saw  Thee :  they  were  afraid ;  the  depths  also 
were  troubled.' — '  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  Thy  path  in  the 
great  waters,  and  Thy  footsteps  are  not  known.' ^ 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  in  modern  times  memorial  stones 
are  not  more  frequently  set  up.  We  rear,  in  these  days,  monu- 
ments to  great  men:  why  should  we  not  more  frequently  rear 
alms-houses  or  sanctuaries  in  remembrance  of  great  national 
events  ?  We  have  heard  of  memorial  trees  planted  in  comme- 
moration of  royal  visits,  and  a  memorial  church  is  to  be  erected  at 
Cawnpore  in  remembrance  of  the  sad  events  and  gracious  deli- 
verances which  occurred  there  during  the  Indian  Mutiny ;  but 
why  should  not  this  Christian  land  be  studded  with  memorial 
buildings  commemorative  of  plentiful  harvests,  of  the  cessation 
of  war,  of  rehgious  progress,  and  of  other  national  events  which 
often  call  for  our  gratitude  as  a  people  ?  The  memory  of  the 
nation  is  not  more  retentive  of  its  mercies  than  is  that  of  the 
individual;  and  hence  we  need  such  public  monuments  to  remind 
us  of  our  obligations  to  the  Great  Supreme — monuments  to 
which  we  could  point  our  children,  and  say,  '  In  such  a  year  God 
delivered  us  from  the  pestilence ;'  or,  '  In  such  a  year  He  gave  us 
abundant  harvests ; '  or,  '  In  such  a  year  He  visited  us  with  a 
great  revival  of  religion.'     Such  memorial  buildings  would  be 

>  Gen.  xxviii.  18.  2  i  g^m.  yii.  12.  «  Ps.  Ixxvii. 


62  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAX. 

ornaments  to  our  country,  and  would  do  honour  to  our  country's 
piety  and  zeal. 

At  Gilgal  Joshua  was  commanded  to  renew  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision, which,  during  the  thirty-eight  years'  wanderings  in 
the  wilderness,  had  not  been  observed.  All  the  males  who  came 
out  of  Egypt  forty  years  before  were  circumcised,  but  they  fell 
in  the  wilderness ;  and  their  sons,  who  were  born  in  the  wilderness, 
had  not  been  circumcised.  Now,  therefore,  must  this  rite,  which 
had  been  instituted  in  the  days  of  Abraham,  and  which  was  the 
outward  sign  of  the  covenant  into  which  God  had  entered  with 
Abraham's  posterity,  be  solemnly  regarded,  and  performed  on 
all  the  males.  The  instruments  used  are  called  '  sharp  knives,^ 
but  literally  '  knives  of  flint,' — such  instruments  being  frequently 
employed  both  in  earher  and  in  later  times.-^ 

In  answer  to  the  question,  Why  was  this  sign  of  the  covenant 
not  observed  during  the  sojourn  in  the  wilderness  ?  Kurtz  re- 
plies,— '  The  circumcision  of  the  new-born  was  omitted  from  the 
time  of  the  departure  from  Egypt, — at  first,  no  doubt,  on  account 
of  the  difficulty  of  the  journey ;  for,  when  the  camp  was  broken 
up,  and  the  orders  were  given  to  advance,  it  was  impossible 
to  make  allowance  for  any  of  the  families  which  might  require 
longer  rest,  on  account  of  the  new-born  infants  being  ill  at  the 
time  with  the  fever  which  followed  circumcision.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  could  not  be  left  behind ;  and  therefore  nothing  re- 
mained but  to  suspend  the  circumcision  altogether.  The  whole 
period  of  the  journey  through  the  desert  was  one  of  affliction, 
which  fully  warranted  the  omission.  It  was  undoubtedly  their 
intention  at  the  time  to  repair  the  omission  on  reaching  the  Holy 
Land.  And  this  continued  to  be  the  case  even  after  the  sentence 
of  rejection,  by  which  the  entrance  into  the  promised  land  was 
postponed  for  thirty-eiglit  years.' 

We  cannot  but  think,  however,  though  Dr  Kurtz  repudiates 

>  Josh.  V.  2-8. 


CIRCUMCISION.      GILGxVL.  63 

the  notion,  that  this  was  not  the  only,  nor  the  principal  reason  ; 
but  that  the  covenant  itself  was  for  a  time  suspended,  and  that, 
therefore,,  the  sign  of  it  during  that  period  was  omitted.  The 
rising  generation,  it  is  true,  were  not  the  parties  on  account  of 
whose  guilt  the  entrance  into  the  promised  land  was  postponed; 
but  that  generation  necessarily  shared  in  the  consequences  of 
their  fathers'  sins,  and  during  the  whole  of  the  thirty-eight  years 
the  entire  nation  suJBfered  a  partial  withdrawal  of  the  divine 
favour,  and  bore  the  punishment  of  their  iniquities.^  For  His 
own  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  their  progenitors,  God  did  not 
utterly  cast  them  off ;  but  for  a  while  they  were  under  a  dark  and 
mysterious  cloud,  lost  to  history,  and  exposed  to  the  perils  of  the 
wilderness;  and  only  when  the  new  generation  emerged  from 
behind  that  cloud  did  the  covenant  into  which  God  had  entered 
with  them  again  come  into  force,  and  therefore  not  until  then 
was  the  sign  of  the  covenant  observed. 

And  that  this  view  of  the  case  is  the  correct  one,  appears 
from  the  fact,  that  the  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  '  This  day  have 
I  rolled  away  the  reproach  of  Egypt  from  off  you.'  Now,  as 
Keil  observes,  by  the  reproach  of  Egypt,  is  necessarily  meant 
'  the  reproach  which  is  cast  upon  you  by  the  Egyptians.'  And 
what  was  that  reproach  ?  That  they  were  an  uncircumcised 
people  ?  No ;  for  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  the  Egyp- 
tians themselves  were  all  circumcised,  and  hence  they  could  not 
reproach  the  Israelites  on  this  ground.  The  reproach  was 
nothing  less  than  that  God  had  brought  them  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  destroy  them.  The  Egyptians  had  often  said — just 
what  Moses  often  feared  they  would  say — '  For  mischief  did  He 
bring  them  out,  to  slay  them  in  the  mountains,  and  to  consume 
them  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth  ;'2  for  during  the  thirty-eight 
years'  wanderings  they  would  doubtless  hear  of  their  condition, 
and  this  was  the  conclusion  to  which  they  would  naturally  come. 
»  See  Num.  sir.  34.       «  Exod.  xxxii.  12 ;  Num.  xiv.  13-16  •  Deut.  ix.  28. 


64  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

The  subject  of  reproach  was  their  rejection,  -whicli  was  made 
manifest  by  the  cessation  of  the  outward  sign  of  the  covenant. 
But  now  God  had  re-admitted  them  into  His  favour ;  now  He 
had  brought  them  into  the  land  of  promise ;  now  the  sign  of  the 
covenant  was  restored ;  and  now,  therefore,  the  reproach  of  the 
Egyptians  was  for  ever  rolled  away.  Hence  to  the  place  of 
their  encampment  where  the  rite  was  renewed,  the  name  Gilgal 
was  given;  i.e.,  a  rolling  away.^ 

And  now  that  the  covenant  was  renewed,  and  the  reproach 
was  rolled  away,  the  plains  of  Jericho  witnessed  also  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Passover.  The  first  Passover  the  Israelites  ob- 
served after  leaving  Egypt  was  at  Sinai,  in  the  second  year  of 
their  journey  in  the  desert.  That  same  year  they  were  driven 
back  into  the  wilderness  from  Kadesh-Barnea,  and  from  that 
time  the  feast  of  the  covenant  had  never  once  been  kept  for  eight 
and  thirty  years.  But  the  period  of  its  celebration  had  now 
arrived.  On  the  tenth  day  of  the  first  month,  they  had  crossed 
the  Jordan  ;^  during  the  three  days  following,  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision was  performed ;  and  now  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month 
Nisan^  (on  the  evening  of  which  day,  just  forty  years  before, 
the  Passover  was  instituted  in  the  land  of  Egypt)  dawned  upon 
them,  and  found  them  once  more  in  close  covenant-relationship 
with  God.  Now,  therefore,  the  paschal  lamb  was  slain,  and  its 
blood  sprinkled  upon  the  mercy-seat,  in  the  tabernacle,  which 
had  been  pitched  for  the  first  time  in  the  land  of  promise.  What 
joy  and  rejoicing  would  there  be  on  the  occasion !  With  what 
grateful  feelings  would  that  vast  assembly  join  in  the  celebration 
of  the  feast !  To  the  greater  portion  of  them  it  would  have  the 
charm  of  novelty ;  and,  as  they  sat  down  in  their  tents  and  par- 

■'  Tho  name  Gilgal  occurs  in  Dcut  xi.  30  ;  whence  it  follows  that  the  name 
was  not  now  given  to  tho  locality  for  the  first  time.  It  was  now,  however,  called 
Gilgal  again,  in  reference  to  the  event  which  harl  just  occurred. 

'  Josh.  iv.  19.  3  1^3^0(1.  j^-ij^  18 ;  Lev.  xxiii.  5 ;  "N'um.  xxviii.  IG. 


THE  PASSOVER  CELEBRATED.  65 

took  of  the  repast,  they  would  contrast  their  position  with  that 
of  their  fathers  on  the  night  when  first  the  festival  was  observed, 
and  they  -would  eat  it  with  a  glad  and  thankful  heart. 

But  by  '  the  Passover,'  in  chap.  v.  ver.  10,  is  included,  at  least 
in  part,  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread ;  for  in  the  succeeding  verse 
it  is  said  that  on  the  morrow  after  the  Passover  they  ate  of  the 
produce  of  the  land ;  and,  according  to  the  law,  this  could  not  be 
done  until  the  sixteenth  day  of  the  month,  after  the  presentation 
of  the  first  fruits  to  the  Lord.  Our  translators  say,  '  They  did 
eat  of  the  old  corn  of  the  land  on  the  morrow  after  the  Passover ; ' 
but  the  Hebrew  word  does  not  bear  this  meaning,  but  signifies 
merely  i\\Q  fruit  ov  produce  of  the  land.^  The  plains  of  Jericho 
are  exceedingly  fertile ;  and,  according  to  Dr  Robinson,  the 
wheat-harvest  is  not  completed  until  about  the  13th  of  May. 
Doubtless,  then,  abundance  of  corn  was  still  standing  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Gilgal,  and  thus  were  the  necessities  of  the 
people  met.  But  the  law  said,  '  Ye  shall  neither  eat  bread,  nor 
parched  corn,  nor  green  ears,  until  the  self-same  day  that  ye 
have  brought  an  offering  unto  your  God;'^  and  this  offering  was 
to  consist  of  a  sheaf  of  barley,  and  was  to  be  presented  on  the 
16th  day  of  the  month  Nisan,  or  on  'the  morrow  after  the  Sab- 
bath.' There  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  how  all  this  was  done, 
if  we  suppose  that  the  historian  uses  the  term  'Passover'  not  in 
its  hmited  sense,  but  as  including,  in  part,  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  which  followed.  The  law  was  in  every  point  strictly 
observed.  On  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  days  the  paschal  lamb 
was  eaten,  and  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  commenced.  On 
the  sixteenth  day  a  sheaf  of  barley  was  presented  to  the  Lord, 
the  produce  of  the  land  in  which  the  people  had  encamped; 
they  then  were  at  liberty  to  eat  of  the  corn  now  ready  for  the 

*  The  word  is  n^ay,  and  is  rendered  by  the  LXX.  fflro;,  and  in  the  Vulgate 
frux,  in  the  plural. 

*  Lev.  xxiii.  14,  15. 


66  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

sickle ;  and  the  self-same  day  they  made  of  it  unleavened  cakes, 
or  baked  it  at  the  fire.^ 

The  manna  now  ceased  to  fall:  'Neither  did  the  children 
of  Israel  eat  manna  any  more.'  In  Esod.  xvi.  35  it  is  said, 
'  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  eat  manna  forty  years,  until 
they  came  to  a  land  inhabited,  until  they  came  unto  the  borders 
of  the  land  of  Canaan.'  We  are  not  to  understand  from  these 
passages  that  manna  was  the  only  food  of  the  Israelites  during 
their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness;  quails  were  sometimes  sent; 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  were  able  to  procure 
many  other  kinds  of  food.  Manna,  then,  was  the  extra  supply ; 
and,  miraculous  in  its  nature,  it  continued  to  fall,  in  greater  or 
in  less  quantities,  as  it  was  required ;  until,  now  that  the  people 
had  come  into  a  land  inhabited,  it  definitely  ceased.  In  its 
failure,  they  must  have  seen  'an  additional  attestation  of  the 
kindness  of  God,  inasmuch  as  it  was  thence  apparent  that  the 
manna  was  a  temporary  resource,  which  had  descended,  not  so 
much  from  the  clouds,  as  from  a  paternal  Providence.'^ 

For  all  these  ceremonial  observances  the  season  of  the  year 
was  highly  favourable,  as,  in  Palestine,  no  rain  falls  during  the 
time  of  harvest.^  In  the  open  air,  under  a  bright  and  beautiful 
sun,  could  the  vast  thousands  of  Israel  enjoy  their  solemn  feasts. 
Nor  were  they  under  any  fear  of  being  molested  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land ;  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  were  smitten  with 
terror  and  had  no  heart  to  venture  out  of  their  cities  to  attack 
them.  How  easy  a  prey  would  the  Israehtes  have  been,  just 
after  they  had  received  the  rite  of  circumcision !  But  their 
enemies  \yere  held  back  by  an  invisible  hand,  and  neither  the 
Amorites  nor  the  Canaanites  had  any  power  to  injure  them. 

'  Parcbed  corn  is  much  used  in  the  East,  and,  mixed  with  honey,  butter,  or 
spices,  is  greatly  relished.     See  Harmer's  *  Observations,'  vol.  i.,  p.  475,  etc. 
•  Calvin  in  loco.  3  See  1  Sam.  xii.  17. 


CHAPTER   Y. 


THE    SIEGE    OF   JERICHO. 


I^RT  thou  for  us,  or  for  our  adversaries  ? '  said  Joshua, 
with  some  degree  of  trembHng  and  anxiety.  He  had 
left  the  camp  at  Gilgal,  and  had  come  near  to  Jericho, 
probably  to  reconnoitre,  when  suddenly  '  there  stood  a  man  over 
against  him,  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand.'  There  was  doubt- 
less something  in  the  aspect  of  the  warrior  of  unusu'al  majesty, 
and,  not  knowing  who  or  what  he  might  be,  Joshua  unhesitatingly 
inquired  whether  he  was  on  their  side  or  on  that  of  their  enemies. 
The  reply  was,  '  Nay ;  but  as  prince  of  the  army  of  Jehovah  am 
I  now  come.'     The  '  nay'  implied  that  he  was  neither  a  Canaanite 


gg  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

nor  an  Israelite;  the  words  which  followed  it  were  an  assurance 
to  Joshua  that  the  stranger  was  on  their  side,  and  that  they  had 
nought  to  fear. 

Who  was  this  august  personage?  Does  He  now  appear  on 
the  stage  of  history  for  the  first  time,  or  have  we  any  records  of 
Ilim  previously  ?  To  Moses  God  said,  just  after  the  giving  of 
the  law  in  Mount  Sinai,  '  Behold,  I  send  an  Angel  before  thee, 
to  keep  thee  in  thy  way,  and  to  bring  thee  into  the  place  which 
I  have  prepared,'  etc.  Can  there  be  a  doubt  in  any  unprejudiced 
mind  that  this  was  any  other  than  that  same  Angel  ?  Invisibly 
He  had  been  with  the  Israelites  in  all  their  wanderings ;  but  now 
that  a  decisive  blow  was  to  be  struck.  He  appeared  to  Joshua 
in  the  form  of  a  man,  to  reassure  him  of  His  presence,  and  to 
encourage  him  in  the  prosecution  of  his  task. 

But  was  he  merely  a  created  angel  ?  Such  was  the  opinion 
of  the  Jewish  Rabbins,  who  went  so  far  as  to  affirm  that  he  was 
the  archangel  Michael,  whom  they  supposed  to  be  a  created 
angel  only.  And  this  view  of  the  case  has  been  advocated  in 
recent  times  by  many  able  commentators,  among  whom  may  be 
mentioned  Dr  Tholuck^  and  Dr  Kurtz.^  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  Hengstenberg  and  Keil  have,  we  think,  proved  most  con- 
vincingly, that  this  Angel  was  none  other  than  the  second  person 
of  the  Trinity,  the  Son  of  God, — the  great  Revealer  of  the 
Father  from  the  earliest  times.  For  what  says  this  Angel  to 
Joshua  ?  He  claims  divine  honour,  and  says,  as  He  did  to  Moses 
in  the  bush,  'Loose  thy  shoe  from  off  thy  foot;  for  the  place 
whereon  thou  standest  is  holy.  And  Joshua,'  who  had  already 
fallen  on  his  face  and  worshipped  Him,  '  did  so.'  Besides,  in 
chap.  vi.  2  the  Angel  is  expressly  called  Jehovah ;  '  for,'  as  Heng- 
stenberg observes,  'it  is  evident  that  we  are  not  to  think  of 
another  divine  revelation  then  given  to  Joshua  in  some  other 

'  ♦  Commentary  on  St  John,'  pp.  58,  59.     Clark. 

*  '  Historj'  of  the  Old  Covenant,  vol.  i.,  p.  189,  etc. ;  vol.  iii.,  pp.  175,  176. 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  LORD's  HOST.  69 

way,  as  some  interpreters  suppose;  because,  in  that  case,  the 
appearance  of  the  Captain,  who  only  now  gives  command  to 
Joshua,  would  have  been  without  an  object.  In  chap.  v.  the 
directions  would  be  wanting;  in  chap.  vi.  we  should  have  no 
report  of  the  appearance.'^ 

And  this  glorious  Being  now  comes  as  Captain  or  Prince  of  the 
army  of  the  Lord.  But  by  the  army  of  the  Lord  we  are  not  to 
understand,  as  some  have  done,  the  Israelites ;  for  they  are  never 
called  the  army,  or  the  host,  of  the  Lord.  The  army  of  the  Lord 
is  the  heavenly  host ;  whence  the  Lord  is  called  Jehovah  Sabaoth, 
or  the  Lord  ofhosts.^  As  their  Captain  did  this  august  Being  now 
appear,  to  lead  them,  as  it  were,  to  the  conflict  in  which  Joshua 
was  now  about  to  engage,  and  thus  to  discomfit  all  his  enemies. 
How  would  Joshua  be  inspirited  as  he  heard  these  words !  He 
would  perceive  that  this  glorious  personage  before  him  had 
come  with  the  omnipotent  help  of  Jehovah,  and  of  all  the  forces 
of  heaven,  to  drive  out  the  heathen  before  him,  and  to  give  to  the 
Israelites  the  conquest  over  all  their  foes  ;  and  if  previously  he  had 
any  doubts  or  fears,  now  they  would  be  dissipated,  and  now  his 
confidence  would  be  more  firm  than  ever. 

With  equal  confidence  may  the  Church  rely  upon  her  Saviour 
now ;  for  as  the  Captain  of  the  heavenly  hosts  He  was  seen  by 
John  in  the  apocalyptic  vision.  *And  I  saw  heaven  opened, 
and  behold  a  white  horse ;  and  He  that  sat  upon  him  was  called 
Faithful  and  True ;  and  in  righteousness  doth  He  judge  and  make 
war.  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  on  His  head  were 
many  crowns ;  and  He  had  a  name  written,  that  no  man  knew  but 
He  Himself:  and  He  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood : 
and  His  name  is  called  The  Word  of  God.  And  the  armies  which 
were  in  heaven  followed  Him  upon  white  horses,  clothed  in  fine 
linen,  white  and  clean, '  etc.  ^     With  such  a  leader,  what  have  the 

»  '  Christology  of  the  Old  Test.,'  vol.  i.,  p.  121.    Clark. 
2  See  Keil  in  loco.  '  Eev.  xix.  11,  16. 


70  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

servants  of  Christ  to  fear  ?  Their  foes  may  be  numerous,  but 
more  numerous  are  their  friends.  Their  adversaries  may  be 
mighty,  but  their  Captain  is  mightier  than  they  all.  'Out  of 
His  mouth  goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  He  should  smite 
the  nations ;  and  He  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron :  and  He 
treadeth  the  wme-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty 
God.  And  He  hath  on  His  vesture  and  on  His  thigh  a  name 
written,  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords.' 

In  what  mode,  and  for  what  object,  this  Angel  now  revealed 
Himself  to  Joshua,  we  have  already  intimated.  It  was  not  in  a 
dream  or  by  an  inward  vision  that  this  personage  appeared  to 
him,  but  by  an  actual  manifestation  to  his  outward  sight ;  and 
the  design  of  the  manifestation  was  to  give  Joshua  instructions 
as  to  the  mode  in  which  Jericho  should  be  taken.^  In  the  suc- 
ceeding chapter  the  Angel  Jehovah  addresses  him,  and  says, 
*  See,  I  have  given  into  thine  hand  Jericho,  and  the  king  thereof, 
and  the  mighty  men  of  valour ;'  and  then  He  proceeds  to  instruct 
him  what  to  do,  and  assures  him  that  the  plan,  strange  as  it 
might  appear,  would  be  followed  by  complete  success.  Joshua 
had  been  wondering  how  he  was  to  take  the  city,  walled  as  it 
was  and  straitly  shut  up,  and  had  perhaps  been  devising  some 
plan  of  his  own,  when  he  was  thus  informed  that  God  Himself 
would  interfere  miraculously,  and  that  neither  stratagem  nor  force 
would  be  required.  And  Joshua  believed  the  word  of  Jehovah. 
His  faith  took  hold  upon  the  promise,  and,  with  his  mind  relieved 
and  liis  courage  strengthened,  he  returned  back  to  the  camp  to 
make  preparations  for  the  compassing  of  the  city. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  ancient  Jericho  occupied  the 
site  of  the  modern  village  Riha,  taking  in  the  great  fountain  'Ain 
OS  Sultan,  formerly  called  the  fountain  of  Elisha.     Bursting  forth 

»  The  division  of  the  chapters  just  here  is  most  unfortunate,  and  breaks  the 
continuity  of  the  whole  narrative.  Ver.  1  of  chap.  vi.  is  merely  a  parenthetical 
remark  ;  and  vor.  2  stands  in  close  connection  wiih  vcr.  15  of  chap.  v. 


THE  FOREST  OF  PALM-TREES.  71 

at  the  easterD  foot  of  a  double  group  of  mounds,  more  than  a 
mile  in  front  of  the  Quarantana,  this  fountain  pursues  its  course, 
joined  by  other  streams,  through  the  Wady  Kell  to  the  Jordan, 
spreading  beauty  and  fertility  of  such  extraordinary  richness  as 
almost  to  '  recall  the  scenery  of  an  English  park.'  Such  is  the 
case  even  now ;  but  in  the  days  of  Joshua  the  neighbourhood 
must  have  been  far  more  beautiful,  for  then  an  extensive  forest 
of  palm-trees,  reUcs  of  which  were  seen  by  Mariti  and  Shaw, 
but  the  last  of  which  has  recently  disappeared,  then  lay  between 
Gilgal  and  the  city,  recalling  to  the  mind  of  Israel's  leader  '  the 
magnificent  palm-groves  of  Egypt,  such  as  may  now  be  seen 
stretching  along  the  shores  of  the  Nile  at  Memphis.'^  This 
forest,  according  to  Mr  Stanley,  '  was  nearly  three  miles  broad 
and  eight  miles  long,'  and,  majestic  as  the  palm-tree  is,  must  have 
presented  to  the  Israelites  a  most  enchanting  spectacle ;  whilst 
above  it  they  would  behold  Jericho  itself,  *  high,  and  fenced  up 
to  heaven,'  and  behind  it  '  the  jagged  range  of  the  white  lime- 
stone mountains  of  Judea,  here  presenting  one  of  the  few  varied 
and  beautiful  outlines  that  can  be  seen  amongst  the  southern 
hills  of  Palestine.' 

Among  the  solemn  feasts  instituted  by  the  law  of  Moses,  was 
the  Eeast  of  Tabernacles,  during  which  the  Israelites  were  to  dwell 
seven  days  in  booths,  constructed  of  the  boughs  of  goodly  trees, 
branches  of  palm-trees,  and  willows  of  the  brook.  And  no  sooner 
have  they  entered  the  land  of  promise  than  they  see  before  them 
a  whole  forest  of  palm-trees,  by  which  they  perceive  that  it  will 
not  be  difficult  to  obtain  a  supply  of  palm  branches,  either  for 
the  Eeast  of  Tabernacles  or  any  other  occasion.  Of  this  beautiful 
production  of  nature,  the  varieties  are  numerous,  and  the  uses 
many.     There  is  the  cocoa-nut  palm  (Cocus  nucifera),  with  its 

^  See  Stanley's  'Sinai  and  Palestine,' pp.  304-5 ;  Robinson's  'Researches,' 
vol.  i.,  p.  554,  etc. ;  Thomson,  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  617:  and  Van  de 
Velde's  Map,  with  the  Memoir. 


72  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

unbranched  stems,  crowned  with  leaves  and  clusters  of  fruit, 
every  particle  of  whose  substance — stem,  leaves,  fruit,  sap — 
may  be  turned  to  good  account,  so  that  it  is  said  that  this  tree 
is  applied  to  at  least  a  hundred  useful  purposes.  There  is  the 
talipot-palm  (Corypha  umbra  cuUfera),  the  stem  of  which  some- 
times attains  a  height  of  a  hundred  feet,  and  the  magnificent  fan- 
hke  leaves  of  which,  when  laid  upon  the  ground,  will  form  a  semi- 
circle of  16  feet  in  diameter,  and  cover  an  area  of  nearly  200 
superficial  feet.  There  is  the  Palmyra  palm  (Borassus  Jlahelli- 
forinis),  which  grows  in  profusion  in  North  Ceylon,  and  which 
yields  to  the  inhabitants  palm-wine,  oil,  and  sugar ;  whilst  its 
leaves  serve  as  a  substitute  for  paper,  as  well  as  for  a  covering 
for  the  roof  of  dwellings.  There  is  the  Piriguao  palm,  whose 
smooth  stem,  nearly  70  feet  in  height,  is  adorned  with  dehcate 
flag-like  leaves,  having  curled  margins,  and  which  bears  a  large 
and  beautifully  coloured  fruit,  which,  in  its  yellow  and  crimson 
tints,  much  resembles  the  peach.  And  to  mention  but  one  other 
species,  there  is  the  date-palm  (Phcenix  dactylifera)^  the  Tamar  of 
the  Scriptures,  remarkable  for  its  erect  and  cylindrical  stem,  its 
feather-hke  leaves,  and  its  much-esteemed  fruit,  the  date.^  It 
was  no  doubt  this  last  species  which  grew  in  such  abundance  on 
the  plains  of  Jericho  ;  and  as  '  the  first  opening  shoot  of  the  date- 
palm  announces  the  coming  of  balmy  spring,'  the  forest  must  now 
have  presented  to  the  Israelites  a  most  beautiful  and  luxuriant 
aspect.  The  fruit,  however,  would  not  be  ready,  as  it  does  not 
ripen  until  August  or  September.^ 

Of  all  the  remarkable  sieges  described  in  history  or  celebrated 
in  song,  that  of  Troy  is  one  of  the  most  famous  and  romantic. 
It  took  plaee,  according  to  the  Arundelian  Marbles,  about  1184 
years  b.c,  and  consequently  upwards  of  250  years  after  the  events 

'  See  on  the  subject  of  the  palm,  Sir  E.  J.  Tennent,  '  Ceylon,'  vol.  i.,  pp. 
109-111.     Humboldt's  'Views  of  Nature,'  p.  223,  etc.    Bohn. 

'  See  Humboldt's  '  Cosmos,'  vol.  ii.    Bohn.    Eohr's  Palestine,  p.  67. 


PREPARATIONS.  73 

we  are  now  relating.  Homer  has  immortalized  it  in  the  Iliad  ; 
and  Virgil,  catching  some  of  the  fire  of  Homer's  genius,  has 
given  another  aspect  of  the  story  in  the  ^Eneid ;  and  so  long  as 
poetry  of  the  highest  order  has  charms  for  the  human  mind, 
will  these  two  productions  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  bards  be 
read  both  by  young  and  old.  But  far  more  glorious  was  the 
siege  now  to  be  related :  and  nobler  far  was  Joshua  than  Aga- 
memnon ;  Caleb  than  Achilles ;  and  other  leaders  of  the  host  of 
Israel,  though  their  names  are  not  conspicuous,  than  were  Ajax, 
Patroclus,  Nestor,  or  Ulysses.  That  was  a  siege  against  an 
unoffending  city — save  that  a  woman  had  been  carried  captive 
thither  by  Paris ;  this  was  a  siege,  undertaken  at  the  command 
of  the  Most  High,  against  a  people  who  had  filled  up  the  cup  of 
their  iniquity ;  and,  whilst  the  siege  of  Troy  occupied  ten  years, 
and  terminated  only  by  the  city  being  betrayed,  that  of  Jericho 
lasted  but  seven  days,  when  God  Himself  gave  victory  to  the 
besiegers,  in  such  a  way  as  a  victory  was  never  won. 

We  may  picture  to  ourselves  the  scene.  On  the  vast  plain 
east  of  the  city,  the  hosts  of  Israel  are  encamped.  And  now 
Joshua,  having  received  his  instructions  from  the  Angel  Jehovah, 
appears  in  the  midst  of  the  camp,  and,  summoning  the  priests, 
commands  them  to  take  up  the  ark  of  the  covenant — that  sacred 
symbol  of  the  Divine  presence — and,  preceded  by  a  number  of 
armed  men,  and  by  seven  priests  bearing  rams'  horns,  to  pass  on 
toward  the  city.  The  procession  is  thus  formed : — It  consists, 
first,  of  the  armed  men  of  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  and  the 
half  tribe  of  Manasseh  ;  next,  of  the  seven  priests,  with  the  rams' 
horns ;  then  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  borne  by  other  priests ; 
and  lastly,  of  the  whole  of  the  warriors  of  the  other  nine  tribes 
and  a  half.  And,  leaving  the  women,  the  aged,  and  the  young 
upon  the  plain,  it  advances  towards  the  high-walled  town.  All 
is  still.  Jericho  is  straitly  shut  up.  Its  inhabitants  are  full  of 
terror  and  alarm,  and  no  one  ventures  beyond  the  gate.     Perhaps 


74  THE  SIEGE  OF  JEEICHO. 

there  are  watchmen  on  the  walls ;  and,  doubtless,  in  the  city  there 
is  many  an  inquiry  relative  to  the  approach  of  the  expected  foe. 
And  the  foe  comes  on,  and  on,  and  on ;  at  first  silently,  without 
shouting,  without  noise ;  until  at  length  is  heard  the  loud  blast 
of  the  rams'  horns,  which  becomes  louder,  and  still  louder ;  and 
continues  to  sound — alas !  it  is  the  death-knell  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city — as  the  vast  procession  encompasses  the  walls.  But 
that  procession,  having  gone  round  the  city,  now  retires,  and 
presently  the  watchers  on  the  walls  report  that  their  enemies 
have  disappeared. 

What  strange  thoughts  and  feelings  must  have  occupied  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  Jericho  that  night !  '  Is  this  all  that  these 
Israelites  can  do?'  some  would  probably  say;  'and  do  they 
think  that  they  will  get  possession  of  our  city  by  such  paltry 
means  as  these?'  But  there  would,  doubtless,  be  others  more 
shrewd  and  far-seeing,  who,  remembering  what  Jehovah  had 
already  done  for  His  people,  would  view  the  conduct  of  the  foe 
as  ominous  of  their  victory ;  and  would  be  all  the  more  afraid, 
because  of  the  calm  and  confident  manner  in  which  that  mysterious 
procession  had  gone  round  the  city. 

But  the  morning  dawns ;  and,  at  an  early  hour,  the  foe  is  seen 
advancing  towards  the  city  again :  on,  and  on,  in  the  same  order, 
and  again  the  city  is  encompassed,  and  again  the  foe  retires. 
And  for  seven  days  in  succession  this  scene  is  Avitnessed  from  the 
walls  of  Jericho,  by  some,  perhaps,  with  laughter  and  derision ; 
but  by  others,  with  increasing  dread.  But  why  was  not  a  single 
march  round  the  city  sufficient?  Why  was  it  repeated  these 
several  times  ?  Why  does  the  number  seven  appear  so  conspicu- 
ous in  their  arrangements?  In  reply  to  the  latter  question,  it  is 
observed  by  Keil,  that  '  the  number  seven,  amongst  the  Israelites, 
was  the  seal  of  the  covenant  between  Jehovah  and  Israel ;  and 
by  this  march  of  seven  days,  and  the  repetition  of  it  seven  times 
on  the  seventh  day,  together  with  the  seven  priests  walking  before 


THE  SEVEN  DAYS.  75 

the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  blowing  seven  trumpets,  the  host 
of  Israel  were  to  show  that  they  were  the  people  of  the  covenant ; 
and  that,  a?  the  gracious  presence  of  God  was  bound  up  with 
the  ark  of  the  covenant,  they  had  in  the  midst  of  them  their 
God  and  Lord,  and  were  fighting  in  His  name.'  ^  But  was  the 
repetition  of  the  march  intended  as  a  challenge  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jericho  to  come  out  and  fight  with  Israel  ?  The  very  com- 
mand of  Joshua,  '  Ye  shall  not  shout,  nor  make  any  noise  with 
your  voice,'  seems  to  indicate  the  contrary ;  for,  if  the  Israelites 
had  intended  to  challenge  the  inhabitants  of  Jericho,  they  would 
surely  have  called  upon  them  to  come  and  meet  them  in  the  field. 
The  one  design  of  the  several  days'  march  was,  to  exercise  the 
faith  of  the  Israelites  in  the  faithfulness  and  power  of  God. 
'  God  orders  them,'  says  Calvin,  '  to  make  one  circuit  round  the 
city  daily,  until  the  seventh  day,  on  which  they  are  told  to  go 
round  it  seven  times,  sounding  the  trumpets,  and  shouting.  The 
whole  looked  like  nothing  more  than  child's  play;  and  yet  it 
was  no  improper  test  for  trying  their  faith,  as  it  proved  their 
acquiescence  in  the  Divine  message — even  when  they  saw  in  the 
act  itself  nothing  but  mere  disappointment.'  *  There  was  an 
additional  trial  of  their  faith,  in  the  repetition  of  the  circuit  of  the 
city  during  seven  daysj  For,  what  could  seem  less  congruous 
than  to  fatigue  themselves  with  six  unavailing  circuits  ?  Then, 
of  what  use  was  their  silence,  unless  to  betray  their  timidity, 
and  tempt  their  enemy  to  come  out  and  attack  besiegers  who 
seemed  not  to  have  spirit  enough  to  meet  them?  But  as  pro- 
fane men  often,  by  rash  intermeddUng  fervour,  throw  everything 
into  confusion,  the  only  part  which  God  here  assigns  to  His 
people  is,  to  remain  calm  and  silent,  that  thus  they  may  the 
better  accustom  themselves  to  execute  His  commands.' ^ 

Most  true  it  is,  that  God's  ways  are  not  as  our  ways,  nor 
His  thoughts  as  our  thoughts.     Very  difi'erent  would  have  been 

*  Commentary  on  JosLua,  p.  159.         ^  Commentaiy  on  Joshua,  p.  93. 


76  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

the  plan  of  besieging  Jericho,  had  it  been  left  to  the  Israelites,  or 
to  their  commander,  Joshua.  But  what  plan  of  man's  devising 
could  have  been  successful  ?  The  walls  of  the  city  were  strong 
and  lofty ;  the  Israelites  had  no  siege  train  or  battering-rams 
with  which  to  attack  them,  such  as  appear  on  the  monuments 
of  Nineveh ;  and  to  have  reduced  the  city  to  a  famine,  would 
have  occupied  several  months.  God's  plan,  then,  was  the  best; 
and  in  quietness  and  confidence  was  the  people's  strength. 
Severe  was  the  test  by  which  their  faith  was  tried ;  for  every- 
thing, down  to  the  use  of  the  rams'  horns,  instead  of  the  silver 
trumpets  deposited  in  the  sanctuary,  seems  to  set  aside  human 
strength  and  glory ;  whilst  the  lapse  of  a  whole  week,  ere  the 
least  sign  appeared  of  any  breach  in  the  city's  walls,  was  calcu- 
lated to  excite  impatience  and  discontent.  But  happily  they  had 
learnt,  by  the  experience  of  the  past,  to  wait  and  trust;  and  Hhe 
happy  fruit  of  their  endurance  teaches  us,  that  there  is  nothing 
better  than  to  leave  the  decisive  moments  and  opportunities  of 
acting  at  God's  disposal,  and  not,  by  our  haste,  anticipate  His 
providence,  in  which,  if  we  acquiesce  not,  we  obstruct  the  course 
of  His  agency.' 

The  seventh  day  has  now  arrived ;  and  '  about  the  dawning 
of  the  day,'  the  Israelites  rise  early,  and  again  the  procession  is 
on  its  march.  On  and  on  it  again  advances ;  but  instead  of  re- 
turning to  the  camp  when  they  have  encompassed  the  city  once, 
the  men  of  war,  the  seven  priests  with  the  rams'  horns,  the  priests 
bearing  the  ark,  and  the  warriors  following  them,  go  round  the 
city  six  times  more.  They  have  just  completed  the  seven  circuits, 
and  during  the  whole  day  no  noise  has  been  heard  but  the  sound- 
ing of  the  rams'  horns ;  but  now  JoshuE^  lifts  up  his  voice  and 
says,  '  Shout ;  for  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the  city.'  In  a 
moment  the  war-cry  rises  from  the  mighty  host;  and  the  priests, 
who  for  awhile  had  left  off  blowing  the  trumpets,  once  more 
blow  them,  perhaps  with  a  much  louder  blast,  when  instantly 


FALLING  DOWN  OF  THE  WALLS.  77 

the  walls  of  the  city  fall  down  flat,  and  every  man  enters  it 
straight  before  him. 

'By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down,  after  they  were 
compassed  about  seven  days.'^  There  was,  of  course,  no  con- 
nection between  the  shouting  of  the  people  and  the  falling  down 
of  the  walls,  nor  was  their  faith  the  cause  of  the  event;  but, 
simultaneously  with  the  shout,  the  miraculous  power  of  God  was 
exercised,  and  the  confidence  which  had  been  reposed  in  Him 
was  thus  signally  honoured.  As  for  the  attempt  of  rationahsts 
to  account  for  this  event  on  natural  grounds,  they  are  utterly 
unworthy  of  a  moment's  consideration.  It  is  evident  that  the 
writer  of  the  narrative  intended  to  relate  a  miracle ;  and  if  we 
give  credence  to  his  history  at  all,  we  must  believe  that  a 
miracle  was  really  wrought.  To  the  IsraeHtes  themselves  it  was 
another  proof  that  the  Lord  was  with  them.  Without  any 
exertion  on  their  part,  the  first  city  of  the  land  of  Canaan  was 
given  into  their  hands.  They  had  now  in  their  possession  one  of 
the  strongest  of  the  fortified  cities,  and,  moreover,  the  key  to  the 
whole  country  into  which  they  had  come :  and  what  had  they 
then  to  fear  ?  A  pledge  was  thus  offered  to  them  of  yet  further 
conquests,  and  they  had  but  to  rely  on  the  arm  of  the  Omnipotent, 
and  Canaan  would,  ere  long,  be  theirs. 

Jericho,  like  the  cities  of  Canaan  generally,  had  long  been  a 
wicked  and  rebellious  city.  Its  crimes  are  not  told,  but  they 
were  doubtless  of  a  heinous  character,  and,  even  as  those  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  earlier  times,  had  often  cried  for  ven- 
geance from  on  high.  And  vengeance,  slow  of  step,  but  of  keen 
and  piercing  eye,  had  come  at  last.  '  The  city  shall  be  accursed,' 
said  Joshua,  '  even  it  and  all  that  are  therein,  to  the  Lord;'  and, 
with  the  exception  of  Rahab  and  her  family,  all  that  were  in  the 
city,  both  man  and  woman,  young  and  old,  and  ox.  and  sheep, 
and  ass,  were  destroyed  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,    '  The  word 

1  Heb.  xi.  30. 


78  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

Din,  in  ver.  17,  signifies  the  ban,  which  was  the  devotion  of 
either  persons  or  things  to  Jehovah,  as  irreclaimable  and  irre- 
deemable property,  in  the  execution  of  which  men  and  animals 
were  killed,  and  other  things .  either  completely  destroyed,  or 
set  apart  for  ever  for  the  purposes  of  the  sanctuary.'^  'All 
the  dreadful  things  that  can  possibly  be  thought  of  are  included 
in  this  one  word,'  says  Hengstenberg.  It  is  rendered  in  the 
margin  of  our  version  devoted^  but  it  is  not  applied  to  a  holy  or 
devoted  thing  generally,  but  to  a  thing  which  is  holy  in  the  sense 
of  being  devoted  to  God  hy  being  destroyed,  for  '  the  temporal  de- 
struction of  anything  which  does  not  serve  God,  makes  known 
His  praise.'^  In  some  instances  the  Cherem  was  pronounced 
upon  the  persons  of  the  Canaanites  only ;  and  their  cities  and 
possessions  the  Israelites  took  for  themselves ;  but,  in  the  case 
of  Jericho,  whatever  was  not  destroyed — the  silver  and  the  gold, 
and  vessels  of  brass  and  iron — were  consecrated  unto  the  Lord. 

Terrible  must  have  been  the  scene  when  the  Israelites  entered 
the  banned  city.  '  The  men  of  Jericho  fought  against  them,'^  but 
the  strength  of  the  men  of  Jericho  was  paralysed,  and  they  fell 
on  every  hand,  smitten  by  the  conquerors'  sword.  Nor  was  any 
mercy  shown  either  to  the  aged  or  the  young,  to  women  or  to 
children ;  but  all  were  indiscriminately  put  to  death.  Well  may 
it  be  asked,  On  what  principle  can  this  be  accounted  for  ?  and 
we  admit  that  the  subject  is  not  without  its  difficulties.  But  let 
us  look  at  it  in  the  light  of  analogy  and  reason.  It  is  involved 
in  another  and  still  wider  question,  namely,  '  What  right  had  the 
Israelites  to  the  land  of  Canaan?'  And  to  this  question,  there- 
fore, we  must  first  reply. 

Palestine  was  not  originally  the  land  of  the  Hebrews,  and 
the  right  of  the  Israelites  to  that  land  could  uot,  therefore,  as 

'  Keil,  in  loco ;  and  see  Num.  xxi.  l-S ;  Deut.  xiii.  lG-18. 
'  See  Hengstenberg's  '  Christology,'  vol.  iv.,  p.  227.     Clark. 
'  Joshua  xxiv.  11. 


THE  WAR  JUSTIFIABLE.  79 

some  have  represented,  be  founded  on  immemorial  claims.  This 
notion  was  entertained  by  the  learned  Michaehs,  and  has  found 
several  advocates  in  more  recent  times.  But  the  hypothesis  is 
quite  untenable.  The  earliest  possessors  of  the  soil  of  Palestine 
appear  to  have  been  the  Rephaim,  a  race  of  giants,  or  very  tall 
people,  two  of  whose  tribes,  the  Emim  and  Zamzummim,^  were 
conquered  and  nearly  exterminated  by  the  Moabites  and  the 
Amorites ;  and  others  of  whom,  who  lived  on  the  west  of  the 
Jordan,  the  Canaanites,  or  descendants  of  the  fourth  son  of  Ham, 
partly  conquered  and  drave  out.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the 
pasture  lands  of  the  country  remained  unoccupied  by  the 
Canaanites ;  so  that,  when  Abraham  and  Lot  came  out  of  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees,  they  were  allowed  the  use  of  some  of  those  lands 
wherein  to  feed  their  flocks.  But  such  use  of  the  unoccupied 
territory  did  not  imply  a  claim  to  the  land  as  an  inheritance, 
and  hence  Abraham  looked  upon  himself  as  a  stranger  in  the 
land;^  and  when  he  wanted  a  burial-place  for  Sarah,  he  secured 
the  right  of  a  parcel  of  a  field  by  purchase.  He  knew — for  God 
had  told  him — that  the  land  would  hereafter  be  the  inheritance  of 
his  seed ;  but  he  laid  no  claim  even  to  a  sepulchre  in  it,  ere  he 
had  paid  its  full  value,  for  he  was  but  a  sojourner  in  the  country 
until  a  brighter  day  should  dawn.^ 

Nor  was  the  claim  of  the  Israelites  to  Canaan  founded  simply 
upon  mighty  as  others  have  represented,  under  the  idea  that,  in 
those  early  times,  the  rights  of  property  were  not  strictly  defined. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  those  rights  were  as  strictly  defined  then 
as  they  are  now,  for  they  are  founded  on  the  immutable  principles 
of  justice  and  of  truth ;  so  that  the  Israelites  would  have  been  as 
guilty  in  dispossessing  the  Canaanites  of  the  soil  of  Palestine, 
had  they  done  it  merely  because  they  had  the  power  to  do  it, 
as  were  the  Spaniards  in  making  war  upon  the  inhabitants  of 

Gen.  xiv.  5 ;  Dent.  iii.  11.  2  Gen.  xxiii.  4,  xxvi.  3. 

'  Gen.  xxiii.  4-16. 


80  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

Mexico  and  Peru.  '  It  is  founded, '  says  Hengstenberg,  '  in  the 
arrangements  of  Providence, — of  which  the  recognition  is  im- 
planted in  every  human  breast, — that  every  land,  that,  in  short, 
everything,  which  hitherto  has  had  no  owner,  from  the  instant 
that  a  nation  takes  possession  of  it,  becomes  their  lawful  property. 
From  that  instant  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  gift  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, so  that,  whoever  seeks  to  deprive  them  of  it,  fights  against 
God.'i 

But,  when  a  nation  which  has  obtained  possession  of  a  land, 
whether  in  this  or  in  any  other  way,  becomes  notoriously  wicked 
and  increasingly  rebelHous  against  the  government  of  the  Most 
High,  God  has  a  right,  and  that  not  a  mere  arbitrary  one,  but  a 
right  founded  upon  the  eternal  principles  of  justice,  to  sw^eep 
away  that  nation  by  famine,  by  pestilence,  or  by  the  sword. 
Now,  what  had  been  the  conduct  of  the  Canaanites  ?  They  had 
themselves  made  war  upon  the  aboriginal  possessors  of  the  soil, 
and  partly  driven  them  out ;  and  when  they  had  thus  obtained 
authority  over  the  land,  instead  of  fearing  and  honouring  the 
true  Jehovah,  they  had  pursued  a  course  of  flagrant  transgression 
against  the  law  written  upon  the  heart,  had  become  worshippers 
of  idols,  had  changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  and  had  given 
themselves  up  to  vile  affections,  to  work  all  manner  of  uncleanness 
with  greediness.  Long  had  they  been  spared,  for  they  were  in  the 
land  in  the  days  of  Abraham ;  but  God  then  said  of  them,  'the 
iniquity  of  the  Amorites  is  not  yet  full,'  ^  and  for  upwards  of  five 
hundred  years  they  were  dealt  with  leniently,  and  time  and  op- 
portunity given  them  for  repentance.  All,  however,  was  in  vain ; 
and  now  their  iniquity  was  full  to  the  very  brim.  God,  there- 
ibre,  was  utterly  weary  of  them,  and  the  land  itself  groaned  for 
deliverance  from  their  hated  presence.  AVhat  was  to  be  done  ? 
Destroyed  they  must  be ;  and  God  chose,  as  the  agents  of  His 

'  Authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  402-3.    English  trans. 
'  Gen.  XV.  16. 


god's  justice.  81 

vengeaDce,  not  the  waters  of  a  deluge,  not  fire  and  brimstone, 
not  pestilence  and  famine,  but  the  people  whom  He  had  brought 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Was  there  anything  unjust  in  this  ? 
Was  it  less  righteous  in  God  to  use  the  sword  for  their  extermi- 
nation, than  it  would  have  been  to  use  fire,  or  water,  or  wild 
beasts,  or  the  plague  ?  And  that  God  did  employ  the  Israelites 
as  the  agents  of  His  vengeance,  that  He  did  command  them  to 
destroy  the  Canaanites,  is  evident  from  the  entire  narrative  of  the 
conquest.  Had  they  invaded  Canaan  on  their  own  authority, 
they  would  no  doubt  have  been  justly  ranked  with  the  vilest 
banditti,  and  the  worst  of  all  murderers ;  but  they  were  bidden 
to  do  all,  and  more  than  they  accomplished :  and,  moreover,  God 
Himself  went  before  them,  so  that  '  they  got  not  the  land  in  pos- 
session by  their  own  sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them;'^ 
but  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  His  mighty  arm,  wrought 
for  them  the  victories  they  achieved. 

If  it  be  asked,  But  why  did  not  God  destroy  the  Canaanites 
by  an  immediate  judgment  from  heaven?  We  reply  with  Heng- 
stenberg,  that  '  no  man  reaches  Canaan  without  strugghng  for 
it;'  and  that  'had  God  led  the  Israelites  into  a  land  already 
emptied  of  inhabitants,  they  would  soon  have  forgotten  that  He 
had  made  it  so :  they  would  have  ascribed  the  operation  to  natural 
causes.'  ^  Nor  is  it  true  that  their  being  employed  in  such  a 
work  would  necessarily  render  them  cruel  and  ferocious ;  for  they 
were  not  bidden  to  torture  their  enemies,  but  to  kill  them  :  and 
they  knew  that  they  were  but  the  executors  of  God's  wrath  upon 
a  wicked  people,  and  that,  moreover,  they  would  themselves  merit 
a  similar  punishment  if  they  became  guilty  of  similar  crimes. 
But  were  they  not  themselves  as  wicked  as  the  Canaanites  ?  and 
is  it  not  strange  that  God  should  commission  them  to  punish 
their  companions  in  sin?  They  were  not  as  wicked  as  the 
Canaanites  ;  for  whatever  they  had  been  during  their  sojourn  in 

»  Ps.  xliv.  3.  ^  Authenticity,  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  412. 

/ 


82  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

the  wilderness,  they  were  now  a  submissive  and  obedient  people, 
and  had  recently,  as  we  have  seen,  been  readmitted  into  covenant 
relationship  with  the  Lord  Jehovah,  i  ■  Individuals  among  them 
were  perhaps  vile  enough ;  but,  as  a  whole,  they  were  now  a  very 
different  people  from  what  they  had  ever  been,  and  were  now, 
therefore,  well  fitted  to  accomplish  God's  design,  in  executing 
summary  vengeance  on  a  guilty  race. 

Such,  in  brief,  we  hold  to  be  a  satisfactory  reply  to  the  ob- 
jections which  have  been  advanced  against  the  justice  of  this 
procedure, — an  ample  vindication  of  the  wisdom  and  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  destroying  the  Canaanites,  and  in  doing  it  by 
such  means.  '  It  is  our  Lord  Himself  who  expresses  the  general 
principle,  of  which  the  extinction  of  the  Canaanites  was  only  a 
special  application :  "  JVhere  the  carcase  is,  there  will  the  eagles  he 
gathered  together;" — where  sin  has  become  rank,  there  will  the 
Divine  punishments  fall.'  It  has  been  so  in  very  many  instances 
already ;  it  will  be  so,  we  fear,  in  many  others,  in  days  and  years 
to  come.  Nations  are  employed  to  chastise  nations ;  and  though 
we  may  long  for  the  day  when  wars  of  every  kind  shall  cease, 
yet  we  must  own,  in  many  of  the  conflicts  which  from  time  to 
time  occur,  that  God  still  sitteth  above  the  water-floods,  and 
reigneth  King  for  ever. 

Terrible,  then,  as  was  the  scene  of  slaughter  when  the  Israel- 
ites entered  the  city  of  Jericho,  it  was  but  the  righteous  infliction 
of  a  punishment  which  its  inhabitants  had  long  merited  •  and  the 
Israelites  had  no  alternative  but  to  execute  the  Divine  commands. 
Their  feelings  of  humanity  might  have  induced  them  to  spare  the 
women  and  the  unoffending  children  •  but  they  had  learnt  that 
the  sins  'of  fathers  were  often  visited  on  their  posterity,  and  spare 
they  could  not,  because  they  were  forbidden.  Yet  there  was  an 
exception.  The  promise  given  to  Rahab  by  the  spies  was  faith- 
fully fulfilled  ;  for  at  Joshua's  command  the  two  young  men  went 

'  See  Judges  ii.  7. 


PKESERVATION  OF  RAHAB.  83 

in,  and  brought  out  Rahab,  and  her  father,  and  her  mother,  and 
her  brethren,  and  all  that  she  had ;  and  they  brought  out  all  her 
kindred,  and  left  them  without  the  camp  of  Israel.  A  petty  ob- 
jection to  the  narrative  has  sometimes  been  advanced,  on  the 
ground  that  Rahab's  house  was  on  the  town- wall,  which  is  re- 
presented as  having  fallen  down ;  but  '  it  troubleth  me  not  to 
conceive,'  says  Fuller,  'how  the  rest  of  the  wall  falling  flat, 
Rahab's  house,  built  thereon,  should  stand  upright ;  seeing  Divine 
power,  which  miraculously  gave  the  rule,  might  accordingly  make 
the  exception.! 

It  was  not  lawful  for  males  who  were  uncircumcised,  or  for 
females  who  had  not  made  a  public  profession  of  the  Jewish  re- 
ligion, to  enter  the  camp ;  and  if  Rahab  and  her  family  had  been 
admitted  there  at  once,  they  would  probably  never  have  become 
conscious  of  their  own  impurity.  That  the  Israelites  might  not, 
then,  be  defiled  with  their  society,  and  that  they  themselves 
might  be  induced  to  lay  aside  the  heathenism  in  which  they  had 
been  brought  up,  they  were  placed  in  a  state  of  safety,  but  apart 
from  the  congregation  of  God's  people,  until  such  time  as  they 
were  prepared  to  renounce  the  religion  of  the  Canaauites,  and  to 
acknowledge  the  Lord  God  of  the  Israelites.  It  was  a  wise  ar- 
rangement, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  followed  by 
the  desired  result ;  for  of  Rahab  herself  it  is  said  by  the  writer, 
'  She  dwelleth  in  Israel^  even  unto  this  day,'  and,  as  we  formerly 
observed,  she  subsequently  became  the  wife  of  Salmon,  and  thus 
an  ancestor  of  the  house  of  David. 

The  city  of  Jericho  is  now  destroyed ;  but  that  it  might  be 
a  perpetual  memorial  of  God's  power  and  justice,  Joshua  com- 
pleted the  ban  by  pronouncing  this  adjuration :  '  Cursed  be  the 
man  before  the  Lord,  that  riseth  up  and  buildeth  this  city 
Jericho:  he  shall  lay  the  foundation  thereof  in  his  first-born, 
and  in  his  youngest  son  shall  be  set  up  the  gates  of  it.'     That 

»  '  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,'  p.  252. 


3i  THE  SIEGE  OF  JERICHO. 

this  curse  was  not  to  light  on  any  one  who  should  merely  build 
houses  on  the  site  of  Jericho,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the 
city  was  allotted  by  Joshua  to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,^  and  is 
subsequently  spoken  of  as  an  inhabited  place.^  Rather  was  it 
to  fall  upon  the  man  who  should  build  a  wall  around  it,  and 
erect  gates,  and  thus  constitute  it  what  it  had  been,  a  fortified 
city.  Upwards  of  five  hundred  years  afterwards,  or  in  the  reign 
of  Ahab,  king  of  Israel,  the  attempt  was  made  by  Hiel  the 
Beth-elite,  and  was  followed  by  the  consequences  which  Joshua 
foretold.  He  laid  the  foundations  of  the  city,  and  lost  his  first- 
born son,  Abiram;  he  set  up  the  gates  thereof,  and  lost  his 
youngest  son,  Segub.^  '  Strange  that,  seeing  his  first  son  drop 
away,  he  desisted  not  from  that  design ;  but  such  the  precipice 
of  bad  projects,  once  step  in,  and  seldom  stop  in  the  way  of 
wickedness.'*  Hiel  was  not  unacquainted  with  the  ban  pro- 
nounced by  Joshua  on  the  city,  but  the  fear  of  God  had  vanished 
from  his  mind ;  and  perhaps  he  thought — if,  indeed,  he  thought 
at  all — that,  seeing  so  long  a  period  had  elapsed  since  the  curse 
was  uttered,  it  was  not  likely  to  be  fulfilled.  But  it  is  not  the 
manner  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  forget  either  His  promises  or 
His  threatenings ;  and  hence  the  daring  conduct  of  this  Beth- 
elite  met  with  the  punishment  it  deserved.  Whether  during  the 
building  of  the  city  all  his  sons  perished,  from  the  first  even  to 
the  last,  or  whether  he  lost  the  eldest  and  the  youngest  only, 
we  are  not  able  to  decide ;  but  if  only  the  two  fell,  it  was  a 
stroke  which  no  father  in  Israel  would  consider  light,  and  Hiel 
would  have  the  bitter  reflection  that  his  two  sons  were  taken 
from  him  because  he  rebelled  against  an  express  command  of 
the  Most 'High. 

*  Joshua  xviii.  21.  2  Judges  iii.  13;  2  Sam.  x. 

'  1  Kiugs  xvi.  34.  *  Fuller. 


CASTING  DUST  ON  THE  HEAD. 


CHAPTER    YL 


THE   SIN   AND   PUNISHMENT   OF   ACHAN. 


^,  >jl^N  the  progress  of  our  history,  the  curtain  now  rises  on 


a  solemn  and  impressive  scene.  It  is  eventide;  and 
Joshua  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  with  their  clothes  rent, 
and  with  dust  upon  their  heads — the  well-known  signs  of  deep 
sorrow  and  distress — are  prostrated  before  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord.  And  the  noble-minded  warrior  addresses 
himself  in  prayer  to  God,  and  says : — 

'  Alas,  0  Lord  God,  wherefore  hast  Thou  at  all  brought  this 
people  over  Jordan,  to  deliver  us  into  the  hand  of  the  Amorites, 
to  destroy  us  ?  would  to  God  we  had  been  content,  and  dwelt  on 
the  other  side  Jordan !  0  Lord,  what  shall  I  say,  when  Israel 
turneth  their  backs  before  their  enemies  ?  For  the  Canaanites 
and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  shall  hear  of  it,  and  shall  en- 
viron us  around,  and  cut  off  our  name  from  the  earth :  and  what 
wilt  Thou  do  unto  Thy  great  name?'  (chap.  vii.  7-9). 

But  what  has  happened  to  call  forth  such  expressions,  and  to 
awaken  fears  so  sad  and  distressing  as  these  ?     Jericho  has  been 


3(5  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

conquered ;  and  never  was  Joshua  more  honoured  and  beloved 
than  now.  Yes ;  but  part  of  his  army  has  suffered  a  defeat,  and 
8ix-and-thirty  of  his  men  have  been  smitten  by  the  people  of  the 
land. 

West  of  Jericho  was  a  city  called  Ai,  the  site  of  which  we 
shall  indicate  hereafter ;  and  to  this  city  Joshua  had  §ent  spies, 
saying  to  them,  '  Go  up  and  view  the  country.'  They  had  obeyed, 
and  returned  with  the  information  that  the  inhabitants  of  Ai  were 
but  few;  and  that,  therefore,  two. or  three  thousand  men  would 
be  sufficient  to  take  it.  This  number  had  been  sent,  but,  to 
Joshua's  utter  surprise,  they  had  fled  before  their  enemies ;  and 
the  men  of  Ai  had  smitten  thirty-six  of  them,  and  had  chased 
the  rest  from  the  gate,  so  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  had 
melted  and  become  as  water. 

That  this  defeat  was  not  to  be  attributed  to  the  smallness  of 
the  force  which  had  been  sent  against  the  city,  Joshua  was  well 
aware.  Perhaps  it  was  too  small,  and  perhaps  there  was  a  want 
of  foresight  in  not  despatching  a  superior  army ;  but  God  could 
save  by  many  or  by  few ;  and  Israel's  leader,  having  the  most 
perfect  confidence  in  God,  never  anticipated  a  defeat  of  any  kind. 
Ordinary  commanders  reckon  upon  what  are  called  '  the  chances 
of  war ;'  but  Joshua  had  no  idea  of  such  chances,  but  supposed 
that  every  battle  would  be  followed  by  a  victory — every  siege  by 
a  speedy  capture.  Thus  early,  however,  he  was  disappointed,  and 
his  prayer  was  indicative  of  the  real  state  of  his  mind.  He  was 
greatly  discouraged ;  he  was  apprehensive  that  this  defeat  would 
lead  to  others ;  he  was  jealous  of  the  honour  of  God's  great  name. 
What  coulcl  he  do  but  take  the  matter  to  the  Lord  ?  True,  he 
might  have  made  a  second  attempt  to  capture  Ai,  by  sending 
against  it  a  much  larger  force ;  but  he  had  not  courage  to  do 
this :  all  he  could  do,  was  to  humble  himself  in  the  dust  and  pray. 

And  it  was  well  he  did ;  for  immediately  his  prayer  was  heard. 
'Get  tliee  up,'  was  the  answer;  '  wherefore  liest  thou  on  thy  face? 


JOSHUA  IN  DISTRESS.  87 

Israel  hath  sinned,  and  they  have  also  transgressed  My  covenant 
which  I  commanded  them :  for  they  have  taken  of  the  accursed 
thing,  and  have  also  stolen,  and  have  dissembled  also,  and  they 
have  put  it  even  among  their  own  stuff,'  etc.  (ver.  10,  11). 

When  the  people  were  about  to  enter  Jericho,  this  was  the 
express  command  which  was  given  them  :  '  And  ye,  in  any  wise, 
keep  yourselves  from  the  accursed  thing,  lest  ye  make  yourselves 
accursed  when  ye  take  of  the  accursed  thing,  and  make  the  camp 
of  Israel  a  curse,  and  trouble  it.'  Everything  in  the  city,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  was  placed  under  the  ban,  and  was  therefore 
to  be  destroyed,  or  to  be  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  Lord. 
Whoever,  then,  should  appropriate  to  himself  any  of  the  spoils, 
would  be  guilty  of  theft ;  for  he  would  be  robbing  God  of  that 
which  He  had  already  claimed  as  specially  His  own.  Through 
every  part  of  the  camp  would  the  prohibition  be  made  known ; 
so  that  no  one  might  be  able  to  excuse  himself  for  a  breach  of  it 
on  the  ground  of  ignorance ;  and  little,  perhaps,  did  Joshua  think, 
that  there  was  one  among  the  people  that  would  be  so  daring  as 
to  violate  it,  accompanied  as  it  was  with  a  warning  so  terrible. 
But  what  will  avarice  not  dare  ?  what  will  covetousness  not  take  ? 
The  cupidity  of  a  man  will  sometimes  lead  him  to  violate  every 
law  of  honour,  truth,  and  justice ;  and  not  only  to  risk  the  wel- 
fare and  the  life  of  others,  but  even  to  sacrifice  his  own.  There 
was  a  troubler  in  the  camp.  There  was,  even  after  all  the  dis- 
ciplinary training  through  which  Israel  had  passed,  one  who 
could  take  of  the  accursed  thing.  And,  so  long  as  the  sin  re- 
mained unpunished,  the  guilt  of  it  rested  on  the  whole  of  the 
people.  '  Israel  hath  sinned,'  said  God ;  '  therefore  they  could 
not  stand  before  their  enemies,  but  turned  their  backs  before 
their  enemies,  because  they  were  accursed ;  neither  will  I  be  with 
you  any  more,  except  ye  destroy  the  accursed  from  among  you' 
(ver.  12). 

It  may  be  asked.  On  what  ground  could  the  sin  of  one  man 


88  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  whole  nation  ?  And  to  this  inquiry 
there  is  but  one  satisfactory  reply :  '  The  participation  of  the 
people  in  the  guilt  of  Achan,'  says  Keil,  '  can  only  be  explained 
on  the  ground  that  Achan  was  a  member  of  the  nation,  and  that 
the  sin  of  one  member  affected  the  entire  body, — robbing  it 
of  the  parity  and  holiness  with  which  it  ought  to  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  withdrawing  from  it  the  favour  of  God, 
which  the  nation  enjoyed,  as  being  God's  pure  and  holy  church. 
However  truly  the  whole  Scriptures  speak  of  each  man  as  indi- 
vidually an  object  of  divine  mercy  and  justice,  they  teach  just  as 
truly  that  a  nation  is  one  organic  whole,  in  which  the  individuals 
are  merely  members  of  the  same  body,  and  are  not  alone  isolated 
from  one  another  and  the  whole.  The  state  is  thus  treated  as  a 
divine  institution,  founded  upon  family  relationships;  and  intended 
to  promote  the  love  of  all  to  one  another,  and  to  the  invisible 
Head  of  all'  There  was  then  no  injustice  done  to  Israel,  or  to 
the  three  thousand  who  were  defeated  by  the  men  of  Ai.  The 
whole  camp  was  one,  and,  by  the  sin  which  had  been  committed, 
the  whole  camp  was  under  the  curse  of  the  violated  law. 

What,  then,  could  be  done  ?  God  might  have  revealed  to 
Joshua  the  name  of  the  guilty  individual,  just  as  easily  as  He 
revealed  to  him  the  general  fact  that  some  one  had  taken  of  the 
spoil.  But  the  people  must  be  proved.  They  must  themselves 
search  out  the  man  who  had  rebelled.  They  must  voluntarily 
become  parties  to  a  strict  and  rigorous  investigation.  '  Up, 
sanctify  the  people,'  said  God  to  His  servant,  '  and  say.  Sanctify 
yourselves  against  to-morrow ;  for  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel,  There  is  an  accursed  thing  in  the  midst  of  thee,  O  Israel : 
thou  canst  not  stand  before  thine  enemies,  until  ye  take  away  the 
accursed  thing  from  among  you.'  Joshua  was  also  informed 
how  to  proceed,  and  was  required  to  state  to  the  people  the  plan 
by  which  the  culprit  would  be  brought  to  light ;  and,  moreover, 
the  punishment  that  must  be  inflicted  upon  him.     It  was  a  sad 


THE  LOT.  89 

event ;  and  as  Joshua  heard  these  words,  his  noble  spirit  would 
doubtless  be  oppressed  with  deep  and  poignant  grief. 

That  very  evening,  the  intelligence  spread  through  the  camp 
— *  There  is  an  accursed  thing  among  us ;  some  one  has  taken 
of  the  spoils.'  And  oh,  how  the  hearts  of  many  would  tremble, 
lest  the  offender  should  be  one  of  their  own  tribe  or  family.  To 
Achan  himself,  that  must  have  been  a  night  of  utter  wretchedness ; 
and  it  is  surprising  that  he  did  not  at  once  go  and  throw  himself 
at  the  feet  of  Joshua,  and  make  confession  of  his  crime.  Had  he 
done  so,  who  can  tell  but  that  there  might  have  been  some  miti- 
gation of  his  punishment?  But  he  was  probably  still  deceived 
by  the  hope  that  he  might  perchance  escape  detection;  and 
thus  blinded  by  the  god  of  this  world,  he  ventured  to  await  the 
approaching  ordeal. 

The  morning  dawned,  and  the  heads  of  the  tribes  and  families 
of  Israel  were  called  into  the  presence  of  their  leader,  Joshua. 
Though  the  lot  is  not  expressly  mentioned,  yet  this  was  no  doubt 
the  method  employed  to  discover  the  guilty  individual.  The 
use  of  it  was  easy,  inasmuch  as  there  had  grown  up  among  the 
Israelites,  from  patriarchal  times,  a  natural  division  of  the  people 
into  tribes,  clans,  famihes,  and  households.  The  tribes  were 
founded  by  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob  and  the  two  sons  of  Joseph ; 
these  were  again  divided  into  clans,  ^  which  were  founded  by  the 
sons  or  grandsons  of  the  twelve  patriarchs ;  and  these  again  were 
subdivided  into  fathers'  houses,  or  groups  of  famihes,^  which 
were  once  again  divided  into  households,  which  were  named  and 
numbered  according  to  the  men.  When,  therefore,  the  lots  were 
cast,  the  heads  of  the  people  were  present ;  and  we  may  suppose 
that,  first  the  names  of  the  tribes  being  written  upon  small  stones, 
and  these  stones  cast  into  an  urn,  some  one  would  be  appointed 
to  draw  out  one  of  the  stones,  it  being  understood  that  in  the 

*  Ji'ins'ii'o.     See  Num.  xxvi.  20,  etc. 

2  n'cs'n-^^.     See  Exod.  vi.  25;  Josh.  xxi.  1;  and  see  Keil  in  Iocg. 


90  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAX. 

tribe  whose  name  was  written  upon  it,  the  guilty  party  would 
be  found.  This  was  done,  and  the  tribe  of  Judah  was  taken. 
Next  the  names  of  the  clans  of  that  tribe  would  be  written  on 
stones  in  like  manner,  and  one  of  these  stones  taken  out  of  the 
urn.  It  contained  the  name  of  the  clan  of  the  Zarhites,  Then 
the  names  of  the  several  households  of  that  clan  would  be  written, 
and  in  the  same  way  it  would  be  found  to  whose  household  the 
guilty  one  belonged.  The  household  of  Zabdi  was  taken.  Thus 
gradually  was  the  circle  reduced  within  which  the  culprit  lay,  as 
it  were,  concealed,  until  at  length  this  breach  of  the  command 
was  brought  home  to  a  certain  family.  The  scene  must  have 
been  a  deeply  impressive  one.  At  first  anxiety  would  be  de- 
picted on  every  countenance,  and,  as  the  process  went  on,  whilst 
some  would  be  relieved  in  part,  others  would  become  more 
anxious  still.  At  length  the  moment  comes  when  the  individual 
himself  would  be  marked  out  as  the  transgressor.  Man  by  man 
of  Zabdi's  household  passes  through  a  similar  ordeal,  and  Achan 
the  son  of  Carmi  is  taken.^  When,  in  a  similar  way,  but  for  a 
very  dissimilar  end,  Saul  the  son  of  Kish  was  taken,  he  could 
not  be  found,  having  hidden  himself  among  the  stuff;  and  per- 
haps Achan,  lashed  by  a  guilty  conscience  and  trembling  for  the 
issue  of  the  terrible  investigation,  was  not  immediately  within 
sight ;  but  he  would  soon  be  discovered,  and  conducted  from  his 
hiding-place  into  Joshua's  presence,  for  no  one  would  dare  to 
attempt  to  screen  him,  lest  he  should  share  in  his  guilt  and 
punishment. 

^  'The  exact  process  followed  iu  casting  the  lot,'  says  Dr  Kitto,  'is  not 
known,  nor  is  the  matter  of  much  importance ;  but  we  incline  to  the  opinion  of 
thosA  who  conceive  that  tickets,  marked  with  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes, 
were  put  into  an  urn,  and  the  lot  fell  upon  the  one  that  was  taken  out;  that 
then  they  cast  as  many  tickets  as  there  were  ancestral  families,  or  clans,  in  the 
tribe  whose  name  was  drawn ;  then  as  many  as  there  were  households  in  that 
family,  and  lastly  as  many  as  there  were  heads  in  that  household.'— Zlaz'/y 
Headings,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  281,  282. 


THE  LOT  PERFECT.  91 

Grod  had  given  a  '  perfect  lot,'  and  there  could  be  no  doubt, 
in  the  mind  of  Joshua,  of  Achan's  actual  gilt ;  yet  he  addresses 
him,  and  says,  'My  son,  give,  I  pray  thee,  glory  to  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  and  make  confession  unto  Him ;  and  tell  me  what 
thou  hast  done ;  hide  it  not  from  me.'  How  gentle  are  these 
words !  There  is  no  harshness,  no  severity,  but  a  true  paternal 
pity  for  the  man  who  has  placed  himself  in  so  fearful  and  perilous 
a  position.  'By  this  example,'  observes  Calvin,  'judges  are 
taught  that,  while  they  punish  crimes,  they  ought  so  to  temper 
their  severity  as  not  to  lay  aside  the  feehngs  of  humanity,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  they  ought  to  be  merciful  without  being 
reckless  and  remiss ;  that,  in  short,  they  ought  to  be  as  parents 
to  those  they  condemn,  without  substituting  undue  mildness  for 
the  sternness  of  justice.'^  Eew  things  are  more  unbecoming 
than  stern  severity,  on  the  part  of  an  administrator  of  the  law, 
towards  one  who  has  broken  it ;  and  the  judge  who  weeps  as  he 
passes  sentence  on  a  prisoner,  will  be  far  more  likely  to  lead  him 
to  repentance,  than  he  would  were  he  to  address  him  in  terms 
of  harshness.  That  this  was  the  effect  of  Joshua's  appeal,  how- 
ever, can  scarcely  be  affirmed.  Achan  ingenuously  confessed  his 
crime,  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  was  somewhat  as  Judas 
did  when  he  had  betrayed  his  Master, — from  terror,  rather 
than  from  true  repentance.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  virtue  in  a 
man's  confessing  his  sins  when  they  can  no  longer  be  hid.  Had 
Achan  acknowledged  himself  the  transgressor  prior  to  his  de- 
tection by  the  lot,  we  might  have  indulged  the  hope  that  he 
had  truly  repented,  and  was  deeply  sorry ;  but  it  was  not  until 
he  was  dragged  into  the  hght,  and  his  guilt  exposed,  beyond 
the  possibility  of  being  further  concealed,  that  he  uttered  a  word 
relating  to  the  matter. 

But  let  us  hear  his  words  and  learn  the  extent  of  his  crime. 
'  Indeed,'  said  he,  '  I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 

'  *  Commentary  on  Joshua,'  pp.  114,  115.     Calvin  Translation  Society. 


92  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

and  thus  and  thus  have  I  done  :  When  I  saw  among  the  spoils 
a  goodly  Babylonish  garment,  and  two  hundred  shekels  of  silver, 
and  a  wedge  of  gold  of  fifty  shekels  weight,  then  I  coveted  them, 
and  took  them ;  and,  behold,  th^y  are  hid  in  the  earth  in  the 
midst  of  my  tent,  and  the  silver  under  it.' 

Jericho  was  a  city  of  considerable  wealth.  It  seems  to  have 
had  commercial  intercourse  with  the  far-famed  Babylon,  and  to 
have  obtained  some  of  its  treasures.  The  Babylonish  garment 
or  cloak,  called  by  the  LXX.  yjnXrj  ttoikIXtj,  and  by  the  Vulgate 
vallium  coccineum,  was  probably  a  superior  work  of  art,  composed 
of  various  coloured  materials.  Josephus  calls  it  '  a  royal  gar- 
ment interwoven  with  gold.'^  It  is  observed  by  Dr  Kitto,  that 
the  literal  rendering  of  the  words  of  the  text  would  be,  *  a  mantle 
of  Shinar,  of  which  Babylon  was,  in  after  times,  the  famous  and 
dominant  capital.'^  But  Shinar  was,  in  fact,  the  earlier  name 
for  Babylon,"  so  that  the  rendering  of  our  version  is  strictly 
correct ;  and  we  know  that,  in  later  times  at  least,  Babylon  be- 
came celebrated  for  its  sumptuous  robes,  one  of  which  coming 
into  the  possession  of  Cato  by  inheritance,  he  commanded  it  to 
be  sold,  his  simple  habits  being  opposed  to  all  luxuries.  Recent 
discoveries  in  the  ruins  of  ancient  Nineveh,  have  brought  to 
light  remarkable  illustrations  of  the  state  of  the  arts  of  weaving 
and  embroidering  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates  ; 
and  the  probability  is,  that  this  Babylonish  garment  was  some- 
what similar  to  one,  in  which  a  king  appears  clothed,  on  a  slab 
described  and  pictured  by  Mr  Layard.  '  The  dress  of  the  king,' 
he  observes,  '  consisted  of  a  long  flowing  garment,  descending  to 
the  ankles,  and  elaborately  embroidered  and  edged  with  fringes 
and  tassels.  It  was  confined  at  the  waist  by  a  girdle,  to  which 
were  attached  cords  with  large  tassels,  falling  down  almost  to 
the  feet.  Over  this  robe,  a  second,  nearly  of  the  same  length, 
but  open  to  the  front,  appears  to  have  been  thrown.     It  was 

I  Amiq.  V.  1,  10.  2  pict.  Bible  in  loco.  '  Gen.  x.  10. 


COVETOUSNESS.  93 

also  embroidered  and  edged  with  tassels.'^  The  two  hundred 
shekels  of  silver  would  probably  be  worth  from  L.20  to  L.25 ; 
and  the  wedge,  or  tongue,  of  gold,  which  some  suppose  was  a 
golden  ornament,  weighing  fifty  shekels,  would  be  valued  at 
from  L.90  to  L.IOO. 

These  valuable  articles  Achan  first  saw,  then  coveted,  and 
then  took.  *  When  lust  hath  conceived,  it  briugeth  forth  sin ; 
and  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth  death.'  Herein  was 
Achan's  guilt;  not  that  he  saw,  but  that  he  coveted,  or  gave 
way  to  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  that  then  he  took  what  he  knew 
was  not  his  own.  And  these  articles  he  had  hid  in  the  earth, 
in  the  midst  of  his  tent,  the  silver  being  put  under  them,  or 
under  the  Babylonish  garment.  Thus,  as  God  had  said  (ver.  11), 
he  had  '  stolen  and  dissembled  also,' — dissembled,  that  is,  in  con- 
cealing the  stolen  property ;  thus  saying,  in  effect,  that  he  had 
not  taken  it.  But  now  he  was  compelled  to  confess  his  crime, 
now  his  base  and  sacrilegious  conduct  was  fully  brought  to  light. 
So  true  it  is,  as  Lord  Bacon  says,  that  '  dissimulation  is  but  a 
faint  kind  of  policy;'  on  which  aphorism  Archbishop  Whately 
observes,  '  Nothing  but  the  right  can  ever  be  the  expedient,  since 
that  can  never  be  true  expediency  which  would  sacrifice  a  greater 
good  to  a  less.' 2  Too  late  did  Achan  learn,  as  it  is  to  be  feared 
many  do,  that  by  grasping  at  a  little  he  lost  all,  and  that  his 
attempt  to  conceal  his  fault  only  rendered  it  the  more  disgraceful. 

According  to  the  Mosaic  law,  two  witnesses  were  sufficient 
to  establish  a  person's  guilt ;  and,  now  that  Joshua  had  the  evi- 
dence of  the  lot  and  Achan's  own  confession,  he  might  have 
proceeded  at  once  to  the  execution  of  the  sentence.  But  he 
acted  the  part  of  a  kind  and  generous  judge ;  for,  anxious  to  be 
sure  of  Achan's  guilt,  and  to  present  the  evidences  of  it  before 

^  '  Nineveh,  and  its  Kemains,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  319.     See  also  Vaux's  '  Nineveh 
and  Persepolis,'  p.  293. 

'  '  Bacon's  Essays,  with  Annotations,'  by  Archbishop  Whately,  p.  81. 


94  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

the  people,  he  sent  messengers  to  the  tent  to  search  for  the 
stolen  goods.  There  they  found  them,  '  and  they  took  them  out 
of  the  midst  of  the  tent,  and  brought  them  unto  Joshua,  and 
unto  all  the  children  of  Israel,  and  laid  them  out  before  the 
Lord.'  Probably  before  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord, 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  elders  of  the  people,  the  Babylonish 
garment,  the  two  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and  the  wedge  of 
gold,  were  laid  down,  as  a  sign  that  they  belonged  to  Jehovah, 
and  ought  to  have  been  destroyed;  and  also  as  a  witness  of 
Achan's  guilt,  and  of  the  desert  of  the  punishment  which  he  was 
about  to  suffer.  Deep  must  have  been  the  impression  made 
upon  the  spectators'  minds.  They  would  see  the  folly  of  trans- 
gressing God's  commands.  They  would  learn  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  hide  anything  from  Him.  They  would  perceive  how 
hateful  sin  was  in  His  sight,  the  act  of  one  man  having  brought 
sorrow  on  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel.  And  they  would 
be  prepared  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  the  penalty  which 
was  to  fall  on  the  transgressor,  and  also  to  take  part  in  the  speedy 
execution  of  it. 

And  now  the  hour  of  vengeance  has  arrived.  Into  a  valley 
not  far  from  Jericho,  Joshua  and  all  Israel  took  Achan,  together 
with  his  sons  and  daughters,  his  oxen,  his  asses,  his  sheep,  his 
tent,  and  the  silver,  and  the  garment,  and  the  wedge  of  gold, 
and  all  that  he  had ;  and  there  Joshua  addressed  him,  and  said, 
'  Why  hast  thou  troubled  us  ?  the  Lord  shall  trouble  thee  this 
day.'  Troublers  of  others,  and  especially  of  the  Church,  generally 
bring  trouble  on  themselves.  Achan  had  brought  the  ban  upon 
all  Israel ;  now  it  is  to  be  removed  from  them,  and  to  fall  with 
tremendous  violence  on  himself.  No  mercy  could  be  shown  him, 
for  his  crime  was  of  an  aggravated  character,  and  had"  already 
cost  the  people  the  shame  of  a  disastrous  defeat. 

Stoning  was  the  legal  method  of  inflicting  the  punishment  of 
death  upon  criminals.     '  Thou  shalt  bring  forth,'  said  the  law, 


STONING.  95 

Uhat  man  or  that  woman  which  have  committed  that  wicked 
thing,  unto  thy  gates,  even  that  man  or  that  woman,  and  shalt 
stone  them  with  stones  until  they  die.'^  It  was  by  no  means  a 
cruel  mode  of  deahng  with  a  culprit,  for  death  would  ensue  im- 
mediately that  a  heavy  stone  fell  upon  the  head  or  upon  the  chest ; 
nor  was  it  ever  accompanied  with  torture  or  mutilation,  such 
as  the  seven  brothers  and  their  mother  suffered,  by  command  of 
Antiochus,  in  the  times  of  the  Maccabees  ;2  or  such  as  some  poor 
victims  of  Papal  wrath  suffer  even  in  our  day,  in  the  dungeons 
of  the  Inquisitions  of  Italy  and  Spain.  No ;  the  law  of  God, 
stern  and  inexorable  as  it  doubtless  is,  gives  no  authority  even 
to  magistrates  to  inflict  tortures  of  this  kind  on  criminals  of  any 
class.  It  sanctions  capital  punishments ;  but  it  does  so,  not  that 
revengeful  passions  may  be  gratified,  but  only  for  the  benefit  of 
the  state. 

Achan  and  all  his  were  first  stoned,  and  then  burned  with 
fire ;  after  which  a  great  heap  of  stones  was  raised  on  their 
remains.  Even  the  gold  and  the  silver  were  consumed :  for,  as 
Calvin  observes,  God  '  would  not  allow  the  sanctuary  to  be  pol- 
luted by  the  proceeds  of  theft;'  and,  therefore,  although  such 
things  found  in  Jericho  were  to  be  consecrated  to  the  Lord,  and 
to  be  brought  into  His  treasury,  these  He  could  not  accept. 
Stolen  property  can  never  be  offered  to  God  with  His  approval, 
even  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  or  for  the  service  of  the  Church. 
To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice.  Justice  must  be  done  before 
deeds  of  charity  are  wrought.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  many  a 
sacred  edifice  has  been  built  with  money  which  has  been  obtained 
by  fraud  or  by  oppression ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  the  God  of 
truth  and  righteousness  can  smile  upon  such  deeds.  No  offerings 
can  be  acceptable  to  Him  on  which  the  ban  or  curse  of  the  law 
rests;  and,  therefore,  none  can  be  acceptable  but  such  as  are 
gained  by  honest  means. 

1  Deut.  xvii.  5  :  and  see  Num.  xv.  32-36.  -  2  Mace  vii. 


96  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

By  throwing  stones  upon  the  spot  where  Achan  was  consumed, 
the  people  expressed  their  detestation  of  his  crime ;  and  there  they 
heaped  stones  as  a  memorial  to  posterity  of  the  sad  event,  and 
perhaps,  as  Calvin  suggests,  Ho  prevent  any  one  from  imprudently 
gathering  particles  of  gold  and  silver  on  the  spot.'  Nothing  that 
belonged  to  Achan  was  hereafter  to  be  touched  by  any  of  the 
people ;  and  hence,  everything  was  done  that  could  be,  to  oblite- 
rate them  from  the  sight  of  man. 

Bat  are  we  to  understand  that  the  sons  and  the  daughters  of 
Achan,  together  with  his  oxen,  his  asses,  and  his  sheep,  shared 
the  same  fate  ?  To  some,  this  has  appeared  so  unreasonable  and 
so  unjust,  that  they  have  endeavoured,  in  various  ways,  to  prove 
that  it  was  not  so ;  or  that,  if  it  was,  God  Himself  did  not  so 
order  it.  Recourse  has  been  had  to  verbal  criticism :  and  as  in 
vers.  25  and  26  the  singular  pronoun  is  used — 'All  Israel  stoned 
him  with  stones ;' — '  and  they  raised  over  him  a  great  heap  of 
stones' — it  has  been  supposed  that  only  Achan  himself  suffered, 
and  that  his  children  were  brought  down  to  the  valley  merely  to 
witness  the  execution  of  the  sentence.  ^  But,  as  Keil  observes, 
this  by  no  means  follows,  as  the  singular  suffix  is  used  inter- 
changeably with  the  plural ; — because  Achan  was  the  person  most 
prominent  in  the  punishment,  he  is  therefore  repeatedly  mentioned 
alone.  Again,  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  members  of  Achan's 
family  were  included  in  his  doom,  '  by  one  of  those  sudden  im- 
pulses of  indiscriminate  popular  vengeance  to  which  the  Jewish 
people  were  exceedingly  prone ;  and  which,  in  this  case,  it  would 
not  have  been  in  the  power  of  Joshua  to  control  by  any  authority 
which  he  could,  under  such  circumstances,  exercise.'^  But  in  the 
15th  verse,.  God  says  expressly,  'And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
he  that  is  taken  with  the  accursed  thing,  shall  be  burnt  with  fire, 

•  See  Dr  A.  Clarke's  'Commentary'  in  loco,  where  it  is  denied  that  his  chil- 
dren suffered  with  him ;  whereas  Josh.  xxii.  20  certainly  implies  that  they  did. 
3  See  Kitto's  '  Cyclopaedia  of  Bib.  Lit. ;'  art.  '  Achan.' 


97 

he  and  all  that  he  hath'  jNor  is  there  any  indication  in  the  narra- 
tive of  a  sudden  outburst  of  popular  feehng;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  sentence  appears  to  have  been  executed  with  the  greatest 
calmness  and  solemnity. 

Yet  the  law  of  Moses  enjoined,  that  '  the  fathers  should  not  be 
put  to  death  for  the  children,  nor  the  children  for  the  fathers ;'  ^ 
and  we  cannot  suppose  that  God  would  now  order  a  violation  of 
His  own  commands :  for  He  visits  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate 
Him;^  not  upon  children  who  love  Him,  and  are  obedient  to  His 
commands.  Hence,  though  no  mention  is  made  of  the  fact,  we 
must  suppose  either  that  Achan's  children  had  been  accomplices 
in  his  deed,  or  that  they  had  become  accessories  to  it  expostfacto^ 
and  had  assisted  him  in  conceahng  the  property  in  his  tent.  As 
innocent  persons,  they  could  not  be  put  to  death.  '  They  shared 
in  the  corrupt  nature  and  desires  which  prompted  their  father  to 
the  act.'  They  were  his  children  not  in  a  corporeal  sense  only, 
but  morally  and  spiritually.  And  God  knew  their  hearts  :  He, 
from  whom  no  secret  can  be  hid,  was  perfectly  acquainted  with 
their  inmost  thoughts,  and  saw  how  they  had  connived  at  their 
father's  conduct,  and  thus  made  themselves  partakers  of  his  guilt." 
God  is  love ;  and,  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  as  well 
as  under  the  New,  ever  dealt  righteously  with  men,  and  was 
more  disposed  to  mercy  than  severity, — when  mercy  could  be 
exercised  with  safety  to  His  government.  '  Thou  showest  loving- 
kindness  unto  thousands,'  said  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  '  and  recom- 
pensest  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  into  the  bosom  of  their  children 
after  them :  the  Great,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  is 
His  name ;  great  in  counsel,  and  mighty  in  work  :  for  Thine  eyes 

^  Deut.  xxiv.  16 ;  coinp.  2  Kings  xiv.  6 ;  2  Chron.  xxv.  4. 

2  Exod.  XX.  5,  xxxiv.  6,  7. 

3  See  Keil  and  Hengstenberg's  '  Authenticity  of  tlie  Tent.,'  vol  ii.,  p.  448, 
etc. 


98  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

are  open  upon  all  the  ways  of  the  sons  of  men,  to  give  every  one 
according  to  his  ways,  and  according  to  the  fruit  of  his  doings.'^ 

Thus  we  vindicate  this  procedure,  believing  it  to  have  been 
most  just  and  righteous.  It  was,  however,  a  terrible  judgment. 
'  The  actor  alone  doth  not  smart  with  sacrilege  ;  all  that  concerns 
him  is  enwrapped  in  the  judgment.  Those  that  defile  their  hands 
with  holy  goods  are  enemies  to  their  own  flesh  and  blood. '^  '  It  is 
a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.'  Loudly 
too,  does  this  narrative  speak  against  the  sin  of  covetousness. 
'  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil ;  which  while  some 
coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  them- 
selves through  with  many  sorrows.'^  Yet,  with  all  the  solemn 
warnings  which  they  have  before  their  eyes,  men  continue  to  bow 
down  to  and  to  worship  mammon  ;  and  numbers  there  are  who, 
if  they  cannot  obtain  wealth  by  honest  means,  will  obtain  it  by 
dishonest:  for  wealth  they  must  and  will  have,  though  their 
gold  and  their  silver  become  cankered,  and  the  rust  of  them  wit- 
nesses against  them,  and  eats  their  flesh  as  it  were  with  fire. 

Men's  names  are  sometimes  expressive  of  their  character.* 
Achan  is  derived  from  achor,  which  signifies  trouble  or  disturb- 
ance ;  and  a  great  disturber  of  the  happiness  of  Israel  had  this 
man  been.  And  now  his  name  was  transferred  to  the  valley  in 
which  he  suffered,  'for  the  name  of  the  place  was  called  the 
valley  of  Achor  unto  this  day.'  It  is  elsewhere  mentioned  in 
Isa.  Ixv.  10,  and  Hos.  ii.  15,  and  in  both  instances  with  reference 
to  this  event.  But  its  situation  cannot  be  accurately  determined. 
*  Jerome  says  that  it  was  situated  on  .the  north  of  Jericho,  near 
to  Gilgal,  and  that  even  in  his  day  the  inhabitants  called  it  by 
its  ancient  name.  But  the  assertion  merely  rests  upon  an  un- 
certain tradition,  which  had  its  origin  in  the  present  chapter, 
and  does  not  accord  with  chap.  xv.  7.    According  to  this  passage, 

1  Jer.  xxxii.  18,  19.  2  Bishop  HaU. 

'  1  Tim.  vi.  10.  ♦  See  Gen.  xxvii.  36. 


VALLEY  OF  ACHOR.  99 

the  northern  boundary  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  ran  through  the 
valley  of  Achor ;  '  and,  therefore,  the  valley  must  have  been  on  the 
south  or  -south- west  of  Jericho,  since  this  town  was  not  within 
the  territory  of  Judah.'  ^  Whether,  then,  it  was  a  gloomy  valley, 
or  one  of  considerable  loveliness  and  beauty,  we  cannot  tell ;  but 
a  valley  of  trouble  it  certainly  was,  partly  to  Israel,  but  especially 
to  Achan  himself,  the  troubler.  And  yet  it  was  changed  into  a 
door  of  hope ;  for  the  Lord  turned  from  the  fierceness  of  His 
anger,  and  the  ban  was  removed  from  the  congregation  of  the 
people.  Let  a  nation  or  a  church  upon  whom  the  displeasure  of 
God  has  fallen,  put  away  from  it  the  accursed  thing,  and  His 
anger  against  it  will  soon  cease;  but  if,  as  in  the  church  at 
Corinth  in  early  times,^  sin  is  committed,  and  the  members  of 
the  church  are  puffed  up,  and  fail  to  excommunicate  the  wicked 
person,  and  thereby  make  themselves  sharers  of  his  guilt,  God 
cannot  smile  upon  them,  but  will  take  away  their  candlestick  out 
of  its  place.  A  diseased  member  must  be  cut  off,  or  the  whole 
body  will  be  infected,  and  will  perish. 

There  are  Achans  in  almost  every  camp.  Men  there  are, 
both  in  the  State  and  in  the  Church,  who,  under  a  fair  exterior, 
pleasing  manners,  and  a  smooth  tongue,  hide  a  selfish  and  covet- 
ous disposition ;  and  whilst  professing,  perhaps,  and  that  loudly, 
to  be  anxious  to  promote  the  welfare  of  others,  are,  in  fact, 
secretly  plotting  to  secure  their  own.  Such  men  are  the  gan- 
grene of  society,  and,  were  it  not  for  the  checks  they  meet  with, 
would  eat  out  its  moral  and  spiritual  life.  But  the  eye  of  the 
Omniscient  One  is  upon  them ;  and  though  they  may  continue  to 
deceive  their  fellow-men  for  a  while.  Him  they  cannot  deceive. 
Nor  will  He  fail  to  bring  them  to  the  light.  Not  by  means  of 
the  lot  is  the  Church  to  search  them  out,  for  that  mode  of  dis- 
covering offenders  has  no  longer  the  Divine  sanction ;  but  God 
Himself  will,  in  His  own  time,  take  off  the  mask  they  wear,  and 

^  Eeil,  in  loco.  ^  1  Cor.  v 


100  THE  SIN  OF  ACHAN. 

make  them  known,  and  then  will  they  be  covered  with  shame  and 
ignominy,  and  their  doom  will  be  worse  than  that  of  Achan. 

For  the  punishment  of  Achan  did  not  necessarily  involve  the 
destruction  of  his  soul.  His  repentance,  though  late,  was  ingenu- 
ous, and  perhaps  sincere;  and  this  may  have  been  one  of  those  cases 
which  are  delivered  '  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh, 
that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord.'  But  if  he  that 
despised  Moses'  law  died  without  mercy  under  two  or  three  wit- 
nesses, of  how  much  sorer  punishnaent  shall  he  be  thought  worthy, 
who  sins  against  clearer  light,  and  richer  privileges,  and  a  superior 
economy,  and  thus  treads  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  counts 
the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy 
thing,  and  does  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?  It  is  impossible 
for  one  favoured  with  the  blessings  of  the  Christian  dispensation 
to  be  no  more  accountable  to  God  than  one  who  lived  under  the 
law  of  Moses ;  and  it  is  impossible,  therefore,  that  the  guilt  of  both 
should  be  viewed  in  the  same  light,  even  though  they  violate  one 
and  the  same  law.  An  Achan  under  the  New  Testament  economy 
would  be  a  worse  man,  and  liable,  therefore,  to  a  sorer  punishment, 
than  an  Achan  under  the  Old  Testament  economy ;  and  hence, 
whatever  became  of  the  soul  of  the  Achan  of  our  narrative,  the 
Achans  of  our  own  day  may  well  tremble  for  the  consequences  of 
their  covetousness  and  dissimulation ;  and  the  sooner  they  take 
vengeance  on  their  sins,  and  destroy  them  utterly,  as  the  real 
troublers  both  of  themselves  and  others,  the  greater  hope  there 
will  be  that  they  will  escape  the  wrath  which  is  to  come.  But 
if  they  think  of  a  death-bed  repentance,  let  them  know,  as  Jeremy 
Taylor  says,  that  '  no  man  can  in  a  moment  root  out  the  long 
contracted  habit  of  vice,  nor  upon  his  death-bed  make  use  of 
all  that  variety  of  preventing,  accompanying,  and  persevering 
grace,  which  God  gave  to  man,  because  man  would  need  it  all;' 
and  that,  therefore,  to  procrastinate  so  great  a  work,  is  to  render 
it  all  but  certain  that  it  will  never  be  accomphshed  at  all. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


THE    DESTKUCTION   OF   AI. 


?S  when  a  dense  cloud  charged  with  the  elements  of  de- 
struction, which  has  for  some  time  hung  over  a  country, 
is  suddenly  dispersed,  and  the  sun's  bright  beams  once 
more  gladden  all  nature,  so  now  were  the  Israelites  relieved 
from  the  apprehensions  they  had  suffered  since  the  sm  of  Achan 
had  placed  them  under  the  ban.  They  had  wiped  their  hands 
of  his  crime,  they  had  put  away  from  them  the  accursed  thmg ; 
and  now  the  cloud  of  the  Divine  displeasure  had  rolled  away, 
and  a  ray  of  hope  again  gleamed  upon  the  camp. 


102  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

*Fear  not,  neither  be  dismayed/^  said  God  to  Joshua,  when 
He  called  him  to  accept  the  leadership  of  His  people.  Tear 
not,  neither  be  dismayed,'^  was  the  word  of  encouragement  with 
which  he  was  again  addressed.  And  this  word  was  followed  by 
an  assurance  that  Ai  and  her  king  would  be  given  into  his  hand ; 
that  as  He  placed  Jericho  and  her  king  under  the  ban,  and  had 
destroyed  them,  so  should  He  do  also  to  Ai  and  her  king ;  and 
that,  in  this  case,  the  people  would  be  permitted  to  take  the 
spoil  and  the  cattle,  as  a  prey,  unto  themselves.  Who  can  con- 
ceive the  joy  and  gladness  with  which  the  valiant  commander  of 
God's  people  would  hear  these  words  ?  Afraid  he  had  been,  and 
considerably  dismayed ;  but  all  his  fears  were  now  given  to  the 
winds,  and  with  reanimated  courage  he  proceeded  a  second 
time  to  attack  the  city. 

Ai  is  described  as  'beside  Beth-aven,  on  the  east  side  of 
Beth-el.'^  Both  Ai  and  Beth-el  existed  in  the  time  of  Abram ;  for 
when  Abram  entered  Canaan,  and  had  passed  through  the  land 
to  the  plain  of  Moreh,  it  is  said  '  he  removed  from  thence  unto  a 
mountain  on  the  east  of  Beth-el,  and  pitched  his  tent,  having 
Beth-el  on  the  west  and  Hai  (Ai,  ''yn)  on  the  east.'*  According 
to  Gen.  xxviii.  19,  the  original  name  of  Beth-el  was  Luz,  and  its 
later  name  (i^X  rT'H,  the  house  of  God)  appears  to  have  been 
given  to  it  by  Jacob,  first,  after  he  had  seen  the  vision  of  the 
ladder,  and  again  on  his  return  from  Padan-aram  (Gen.  xxxv.  7). 
It  is  mentioned  by  Jerome  as  situated  twelve  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem, on  the  right  hand  of  the  road  to  Shechem ;  and  here,  on  a 
hill,  Dr  Robinson  found  some  ruins,  which  cover  a  space  of  three 
or  four  acres,  called  by  the  Arabs  Beitih.  '  There  is  little  room 
for  question,  that  both  the  name  and  the  site  of  Beitin  are  iden- 
tical with  those  of  the  ancient  Beth-el;'^  and  on  one  of  these 

^  Josh.  i.  9 ;  Deut.  xxxi.  G,  8.  -  Josh.  viii.  1. 

3  Josh.  vii.  2.  *  Gen.  xii.  8,  9,  xiii.  3. 

*  Eobinson's  '  Kesearches,'  vol.  i.,  p.  449. 


SITE  OF  AI.  103 

heights  Abram  no  doubt  built  his  altar,  and  called  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord.^  Di*  Keil,  however,  does  not  agree  with 
this  identification ;  but,  following  Thenius,  contends  that  Beth-el 
must  have  stood  on  or  near  Sinjil,  three  miles  further  north,  and 
he  then  identifies  Ai  with  Turnus  Aya,  a  village  situated  upor 
a  low  mound  a  little  east  of  Sinjil.  Here,  however,  says  Yan 
de  Yelde,  *  there  is  no  deep  valley,  and  Michmash,  which,  accord- 
ing to  1  Sam.  xiii.  5,  was  near  to  Ai,  is  at  least  three  or  three 
and  a  half  hours  south  of  Turnus  Aya.'^ 

Where,  then,  was  Ai  ?  Dr  Robinson  found  a  village  called 
Deir  Diowan,  in  an  uneven  rocky  basin,  one  hour  south-east  of 
Beitan  (Beth-el),  '  the  position  of  which,'  he  observes,  '  would 
answer  well  to  that  of  Ai.'  But  there  are  no  ruins  here,  nor 
does  its  position  agree  exactly  with  the  scriptural  account  of  the 
position  of  Ai.  Hence  even  Dr  Robinson  himself  seems  doubt- 
ful, and  Van  de  Yelde  fixes  upon  another  spot,  discovered  by  Mr 
Finn,  called  by  the  natives  Tell-el-haja,  that  is,  '  the  Mount  of 
Stones.'  It  is  an  isolated  mount,  thirty-five  minutes  east  of 
Beth-el,  and  answers  exactly  to  the  scriptural  requirements  for 
Ai,  whilst  an  old  cistern  and  huge  heaps  of  stones  indicate  the 
site  of  an  ancient  town.^ 

This  identification  we  are  disposed  to  adopt,  as  by  far  the  most 
probable  solution  of  the  difficulty ;  and  we  will  now  attempt  a 
description  of  the  siege. 

On  the  former  occasion  the  expedition  against  Ai  consisted  of 
but  3000  men,  but  now  Joshua  was  commanded  to  take  with  him 
'all  the  people  of  war;'  for,  their  courage  having  been  damped, 
it  was  necessary  to  consult  their  weakness,  and  to  animate  them 

1  Van  de  Velde,  'Syria  and  Palestine,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  282;  Stanley,  '  Sinai  and 
Palestine,'  pp.  215,  216. 

2  Memoir  accompanying  the  map,  p.  283.     Narrative,  vol.  ii.,  p.  278. 

3  Van  de  Velde,  '  Syria  and  Palestine,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  279,  etc. ;  comp.  Stanley, 
p.  202,  204. 


104  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

for  the  attack,  by  the  thought  that  they  were  numerous.  It  is  not 
necessary,  however,  to  suppose  that  '  all  the  people  of  war,'  meant 
all  who  were  capable  of  bearing  arms,  but,  as  Keil  observes,  '  a 
proportionate  number'  from  the  several  tribes,  and  that  the 
actual  number  employed  was  the  thirty  thousand  mighty  men  of 
valour,  mentioned  in  verse  3. 

By  God  Himself,  Joshua  was  commanded  to  lay  an  ambush 
behind  the  city  (ver.  2),  and  to  take  it  by  means  of  stratagem. 
And  is  it  lawful,  then,  ask  some,  to  employ  wiles  and  stratagems 
in  war  ?  If  war  is  lawful  at  all,  undoubtedly  it  is ;  for  war  con- 
sists not  merely  in  the  use  of  physical  force,  but  in  seeking  to 
obtain  victory  by  skilful  manoeuvres.  '  Those  are  the  best  com- 
manders,' says  Calvin,  '  who  accomplish  more  by  art  and  counsel 
than  by  mere  violence.'  Laws,  then,  are  to  be  observed  in  war- 
fare, which  no  true  soldier  will  on  any  account  violate ;  but  it 
has  never  been  understood,  either  in  former  or  in  later  times,  that, 
to  take  a  besieged  city,  the  besiegers  were  not  at  liberty  to  have 
recourse  to  stratagem,  and  hence  stratagem  has  been  employed 
whenever  it  was  thought  needful. 

But  who  formed  the  ambuscade  ?  It  would  seem,  from  the 
narrative,  that  it  was  composed  of  the  thirty  thousand  mighty 
men;  yet  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  so  numerous  a  force 
could  be  employed  in  such  a  service  without  attracting  the 
attention  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city.  Hence  several  methods 
have  been  proposed  of  meeting  the  difficulty ;  some  suggesting  an 
emendation  of  the  text,  and  others  that  there  were  two  ambus- 
cades, one  of  30,000  concealed  at  a  distance  from  the  town,  and 
another  of  5000  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  But  the  most 
plausible  interpretation  is  that  of  Keil,  who  observes  that  it  is 
characteristic  of  Semitic  historians,  to  announce  as  far  as  possible, 
at  the  very  outset  of  a  narrative,  the  termination  of  the  whole 
affair,  and  then  to  complete  the  historical  sketch  by  proceeding 
with   their  description  of  the   intermediate  occurrences.     The 


THE  AMBUSH.  105 

writer  does  this  in  the  account  before  us.  He  tells  us  what 
arrangements  were  made  bj  Joshua  for  marching  against  Ai 
(ver.  3-8),.  and  then  he  informs  us  that  thej  were  carried  into 
execution  (ver.  9).  Afterwards  follow  the  details  of  the  story 
(ver.  10-20) ;  and  it  is  from  this  point  that  we  are  to  mark  the 
progress  of  the  narrative. 

Having  received  his  instructions  from  the  Lord,  Joshua 
selected  30,000  men,  and  rose  up  with  all  the  people  of  war  to 
advance  towards  Ai,  and  that  night  he  lodged  among  the  people. 
Early  in  the  morning  he  reviewed  his  troops,  and  then  set  them 
in  motion  in  the  direction  of  the  city.  The  distance  from  Jericho 
to  Tell-el-hajar  is  about  twenty  miles ;  so  that  they  would  reach 
the  spot  where  they  encamped,  on  the  north  side  of  the  city, 
towards  the  evening  of  that  day.  Immediately  on  their  arrival, 
Joshua  sent  five  thousand  to  lie  in  ambush  between  Beth-el  and 
Ai,  on  the  west  side  of  the  city,  saying  to  them,  '  Behold,  ye  shall 
lie  in  wait  against  the  city,  even  behind  the  city ;  go  not  very  far 
from  the  city,  but  be  ye  all  ready :  and  I,  and  the  people  that 
are  with  me,  will  approach  unto  the  city ;  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  when  they  come  out  against  us,  as  at  the  first,  that  we  will 
flee  before  them,  (for  they  will  come  out  after  us,)  till  we  have 
drawn  them  from  the  city ;  for  they  will  say.  They  flee  before 
us,  as  at  the  first :  therefore  we  will  flee  before  them.  Then  ye 
shall  rise  up  from  the  ambush,  and  seize  upon  the  city  :  for  the 
Lord  your  God  will  deliver  it  into  your  hands,'  etc.  (ver.  4-8). 

*  Beth-el,'  says  Van  de  Velde,  '  though  lying  quite  near,  in  the 
direction  of  west  by  north,  cannot  be  seen  from  Tell-el-hajar ; 
two  rocky  heights  rise  between  both  places,  just  as  the  laying  of 
an  ambush  to  the  west  of  Ai  would  require.'  Here,  then,  the 
five  thousand  take  their  position,  hid  from  the  observation  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Ai,  and  waiting  the  signal  which  is  to  call  them 
to  the  attack.  Meanwhile,  Joshua  remains  with  the  five  and 
twenty  thousand  on  the  eminence  north  of  the  town,  and  during 


106  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

the  night  conducts  his  army  into  the  midst  of  the  valley,  '  a  deep 
and  steep-sided  glen,'  which  lies  between  him  and  the  fated  city. 
The  morning  dawns,  and  the  king  of  Ai  observes  his  enemies  in 
the  valley,  and  immediately  sallies  forth  with  all  the  men  of  the 
city  to  attack  the  Israehtes  on  the  plain.  They  offer  no  resist- 
ance, but,  as  if  they  are  afraid  of  them,  they  fly  towards  the 
wilderness,  so  that  all  the  male  inhabitants  of  the  city  are  allowed 
to  follow  them;  whilst  those  of  Beth-el^  also,  who  see  the  flight 
of  the  Israelites,  but  do  not  see  the  ambuscade  that  threatens 
them,  rush  forward  to  share  in  the  victory. 

The  Israelites  reach  an  elevated  spot  north-east  of  Ai,  where 
they  can  be  seen  by  the  ambuscade  stationed  in  the  valley.  And 
now  the  preconcerted  signal  is  given.  Joshua,  at  the  Divine 
command,  stretches  out  his  spear ^  towards  Ai;  and  the  men  in 
ambush  rush  into  the  city,  whose  gates  are  left  open,  and  hastily 
set  it  on  fire.  At  the  same  time,  the  Israelites  turn  round  upon 
their  pm'suers,  who,  seeing  the  smoke  rising  from  their  dwellings, 
are  seized  with  consternation,  and  have  no  power  to  flee  this  way 
or  that.  Terrible  is  the  slaughter.  Numbers  fall  before  the 
sword  of  Joshua,  and  others,  who  rush  towards  the  city,  are  met 
by  the  five  thousand  who  have  caused  the  conflagration ;  so  that 
now  the  men  of  Ai  are  between  two  companies  of  the  Israelites, 
and  escape  is  utterly  impossible.  Not  a  man  survives.  In  the 
field  or  in  the  wilderness  all  are  slain,  the  king  only  excepted ; 

^  From  Judges  i.  22,  23,  we  learn  that  Beth-el,  which  was  a  walled  city,  was 
taken  subsequently  by  the  tribe  of  Joseph.  Its  king,  however,  may  have  been 
slain  on  this  occasion  (Josh.  xii.  16),  and  it  is  probable  that  its  fighting  men  had 
already  come  to  Ai  as  allies. 

-  This  wjis  probably  a  long  spear  with  a  small  flag  attached  to  it,  by  which 
it  would  be  rendered  conspicuous  at  a  distance.  Calvin  says,  '  It  is  scarcely 
possible  to  believe  that  the  spear  was  seen  by  the  ambuscade,  when  we  consider 
the  long  space  that  intci-vened,  and  more  especially  that  Joshua  was  standing 
in  a  valley.'  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  lie  was  standing  in  a  valley,  and 
there  may  have  been  persons  stationed  at  different  posts  to  watch  for  the  signal, 
and  to  convey  it  to  the  men  in  ambush. 


THE  SPOIL.  107 

and  now  the  entire  army  of  the  Israelites  enter  Ai,  when  the  rest 
of  the  inhabitants — the  women  and  the  children — are  also  slain, 
and  12,000. people  thus  fall  a  sacrifice  to  the  avenging  sword. 

'  The  cattle,  and  the  spoil  of  the  city,  Israel  took  for  a  prey 
nnto  themselves.'  We  are  not  then  to  understand,  by  their  setting 
the  city  on  fire,  that  they  did  so  with  the  design  of  consuming  it 
utterly,  for  then  there  would  have  been  no  spoil  left.  '  The  fire 
was  indeed  applied  so  as  to  let  both  armies  know  that  the  city 
was  in  possession  of  the  Israelites,  but  it  was  not  actually  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  It  was  not  practicable  in  a  moment  of  time  to 
seize  and  carry  off  the  booty,  nay,  to  bring  the  vessels  and  a 
large  part  of  the  property  without  the  walls ;  and  it  would  have 
been  absurd  voluntarily  to  destroy  spoil  which  God  had  granted. 
We  see,  then,  that  the  first  fire  was  not  kindled  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  the  whole  city,  but  was  merely  a  partial  conflagra- 
tion, giving  intimation  of  its  capture,  and  that  the  Israelites  had 
entered  at  the  open  gates  without  bloodshed  or  struggle.  This 
is  confirmed  shortly  after,  when  the  burning  is  ascribed  to  Joshua 
himself,  not  only  because  it  was  burnt  under  his  command,  but 
because  he  was  careful,  after  returning  from  the  battle,  to  see 
that  it  was  utterly  destroyed ;  as  it  is  immediately  added  that 
he  made  it  a  heap  of  stones,  in  order  that  it  might  be  a  perpetual 
desolation.'^ 

Of  Joshua  it  is  said,  that  he  '  drew  not  his  hand  back  where- 
with he  stretched  out  the  spear,  until  he  had  utterly  destroyed 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Ai.'  Intrepid  warrior !  '  As  if  his  hand 
had  been  fastened  to  the  spear,  he  exhorts  the  soldiers  to  look 
to  God  alone,  to  whom  he  resigns  the  success  of  the  battle.' 
There  was,  however,  no  mystical  power  in  the  spear  of  Joshua, 
as  there  was  in  the  elevation  of  the  hands  of  Moses  during  the 
battle  with  the  Amalekites.  Rather  is  the  fact  mentioned  as 
illustrative  of  the  noble  spirit  of  perseverance  displayed  by  Israel's 

^  CalviD,  in  loco. 


108  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

commander,  for  he  was  a  man  who  feared  neither  toil  nor  danger 
so  long  as  duty  called  him  to  the  work.  Would  that  all  God's 
servants  were  like  him !  But  how  many  are  there,  who,  long 
before  the  battle  is  won,  draw .  back  the  hand,  and  sheath  the 
sword,  and  retire  from  the  conflict,  leaving  their  enemies  in  pos- 
session of  the  field  !  Let  the  reader  be  upon  his  guard.  Called 
to  contend  with  spiritual  adversaries,  let  him  buckle  on  the 
armour,  and  take  the  spear  or  the  sword,  and  resolve  never  to 
lay  it  down  until  the  victory  is  sure.  Joshua  is  a  noble  example 
for  the  Christian  warrior ;  and  our  own  national  history  presents 
other  noble  examples  which  we  shall  do  well  to  imitate.  Nelson, 
WeHington,  Havelock,  and  others  we  might  name,  were  men 
who  drew  not  back  their  hands,  but  went  on  bravely,  in  spite  of 
weariness  and  pain.  Perseverance  was  their  motto.  Nil  des- 
perandum  was  their  constant  watchword.  Look  at  Havelock 
before  Cawnpore.  With  a  thousand  British  soldiers  and  three 
hundred  Sikhs,  who  had  marched  twenty  miles  in  the  hottest 
day  of  the  hottest  season  of  the  year,  he  encountered  a  force  of 
five  thousand  native  troops,  well  trained  and  disciplined;  and 
when  his  horse  was  shot  he  mounted  a  common  hack,  and,  before 
a  withering  fire,  led  forward  his  noble  band,  and  bore  down  upon 
the  enemy  with  irresistible  force.  Cawnpore  was  won — won  by 
courage,  faith,  and  perseverance;  and  these  are  the  principles 
which  every  Christian  warrior  should  cultivate,  if  he  intends  to 
carry  off  the  prize  before  him.  Men  who  draw  back  their  hands 
are  not  the  men  to  conquer  in  the  great  battle  which  we  are 
called  to  wage  against  sin  and  Satan.  Yictory  is  awarded  to 
those  who,  like  an  eminent  modern  traveller,  think  that,  if  God 
is  served'  at  all,  it  should  be  done  in  a  manly  way,  and.  who  are 
determined  to  succeed  or  perish  in  any  great  enterprise  to  which 
they  may  be  called. 

The  kings  of  the  Canaanitish  cities  were  treated  with  greater 
severity  by  Joshua  than  their  subjects,  for  they  were  doubtless 


THE  KING  OF  AI.  109 

the  leaders  and  instigators  of  the  people  in  their  career  of  crime. 
The  king  of  Ai  was  spared  in  the  general  overthrow ;  but  sub- 
sequently he  was  put  to  death,  and  then  hung  upon  a  tree  or 
stake  until  the  evening.  As  we  have  already  seen,  the  mode  of 
executing  the  sentence  of  death  adopted  by  the  Israelites  was 
that  of  stoning,  so  that  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  king  of 
Ai  was  hung  alive.  He  was,  in  all  probability,  either  stoned  or 
slain  with  the  sword ;  and  being  under  the  ban,  he  was  afterwards 
hung  upon  the  stake.  But  the  law  required  that  bodies  thus 
hung  should  not  remain  upon  the  tree  all  night,  but  should  be 
buried  the  same  day;^  and  Joshua,  therefore,  gave  orders  that 
the  carcase  of  the  king  should  be  taken  down  before  the  setting 
of  the  sun,  buried  at  the  entrance  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  and 
covered  with  a  heap  of  stones.^  All  this  was  done,  and  the  city 
itself  was  burnt,  and  became,  like  Jericho,  a  scene  of  desolation. 
The  word  Ai,  or  Ha-ai,  signifies  'ruins;'  and  the  name  Tel-el- 
Hajar  means  '  the  Mount  of  Stones,'  which,  says  Dr  Stanley, 
'  certainly  agrees  well  with  the  curse  on  Ai, — Tel  being  the  same 
word  used  to  express  "  the  heap"  which  was  to  take  the  place  of 
the  city,  and  the  "  Hajar,"  or  mound  of  stones,  corresponding  to 
the  cairn  over  the  dead  king.'^ 

Under  the  name  of  Aija,*  this  city  is  spoken  of  after  the 
captivity,  but  it  appears  to  have  been  rebuilt  at  an  earlier 
period ;  for  it  is  said  by  Isaiah,  that,  when  the  Assyrian  army 
was  advancing  towards  Jerusalem,  they  came  to  Aiath,  passed 
on  to  Migron,  and  laid  up  their  carriages  at  Michmash.^  Yet 
the  ruins  of  the  former  city  may  have  remained,  and  the  new  city 
may  have  been  erected  at  a  short  distance  from  them.  Now 
however,  the  very  name  itself  has  disappeared,  and  Ai  seems 

>  Deut  xxi.  22,  23.  *  Josh.  viii.  29. 

'  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  202,  note. 

*  Nell.  xi.  31 ;  comp.  vii.  32,  and  Ezra  i;.  28^  where  it  is  called  Ai 

*  Isa.  X.  28. 


110  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AL 

doomed  to  be  what  Joshua  designed  it  should  become — '  a 
perpetual  desolation,  a  heap  for  ever.' 

The  siege  and  capture  of  Ai  taught  the  Israelites  some 
valuable  lessons.  It  taught  them  that,  whilst  they  honoured 
God  by  a  strict  obedience  to  His  commands.  He  would  honour 
them,  and  not  forsake  them ;  it  taught  them  that  they  had  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  for  that  God  could 
always  find  a  way  to  baffle  and  overcome  them ;  and  it  taught 
them  that  to  obtain  the  conquest  of  the  country,  they  must  put 
forth  their  own  efforts,  and  not  expect  that  God  would  always 
work  miracles  on  their  behalf.  Lessons  such  as  these  naturally 
suggest  themselves  to  our  own  minds,  and  it  is  highly  probable 
that  they  would  be  presented  to  the  minds  of  many  of  these 
people.  They  were  still  being  trained  for  the  service  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah ;  and  the  battles  they  were  called  to  fight,  together 
with  the  victories  they  won,  were  part  of  the  discipline  which 
God  employed  to  fit  them  for  greater  and  nobler  work. 

Ai  having  been  destroyed,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
sufficiently  awed  to  deter  them  from  attempting  to  attack  the 
Israelites,  the  way  was  now  opened  for  the  assembling  of  the 
tribes  on  a  spot  which  Moses  had  mentioned  before  his  death, 
commanding  the  people  there  to  set  up  great  stones,  and  to 
build  an  altar  unto  the  Lord  their  God.  To  the  commands  of 
the  illustrious  lawgiver  Joshua  paid  due  regard,  as  soon  as  it 
was  practicable,  after  they  had  crossed  the  Jordan ;  and  into 
the  valley  between  Ebal  and  Gerizim  he  now  led  the  mighty 
host. 

Mounts  Ebal  and  Gerizim  still  retain  their  names.^  The 
former  name  is  thought  by  some  to  signify,  '  stript  of  -leaves ;' 
the  latter  name  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from  an  ancient 

^  Gerizim  is  now  called  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood  Jebel-et- 
Sur,  but  the  Samaritans  know  it  by  its  ancient  name.  The  modern  name  of 
Ebal  is  Jusad-ed-Deen,  the  '  pillar  of  religion.' 


EBAL  AND  GEEIZIM.  Ill 

tribe,  called  the  Gerizi,  or  Gezerites,  who  are  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture only  once  (1  Sam.  xxvii.  8).  From  Beth-el  (Beitin)  to  these 
mounts  the-  distance  is  upwards  of  thirty  miles ;  whence  it  has 
been  affirmed  that  the  event  now  before  us  is  not  recorded  in 
the  order  of  time,  but  must  have  occurred  at  a  later  period :  for 
how,  it  is  asked,  could  the  whole  body  of  the  Israelites  journey 
so  many  miles  through  a  country  still  in  the  undisputed  possession 
of  the  enemy  ?  To  meet  this  difficulty,  the  Septuagint  inserts 
the  episode,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  after  the  account  of  the 
league  of  the  Amorites  given  at  the  commencement  of  chapter 
the  ninth.  But  this,  says  Keil,  '  is  merely  another  example  of 
the  arbitrary  manner  in  which  the  translators  made  transpositions 
in  the  text  to  suit  their  own  taste;'  nor  is  the  difficulty  insur- 
mountable after  all.  Other  victories  may  have  been  obtained 
over  the  inhabitants  of  the  intervening  territory,  though  they 
are  not  recorded ;  or  it  may  have  been,  as  we  have  intimated 
above,  that  the  people  were  so  terrified  by  the  destruction  of  Ai, 
as  to  retire  before  the  advancing  host,  and  leave  to  Joshua  an 
open  path,  by  which  he  could  proceed  to  the  locality  he  wished 
to  reach. 

Two  days'  march  northwards  from  Ai,  through  the  Wady-el- 
Lubban,  and  then  over  the  great  plain  of  Mukhna,  would  bring 
the  Israelites  to  the  valley  of  Nabulus  (Shechem),  out  of  which 
Mount  Gerizim  and  Ebal  rise  in  steep  rocky  precipices,  to  about 
nine  hundred  feet  in  height.  Gerizim,  which  lies  to  the  south 
of  the  valley,  has  been  described  as  fruitful  and  picturesque; 
Ebal,  on  the  contrary,  as  desolate  and  sterile.  Dr  Robinson, 
however,  speaks  of  them  both  as  equally  naked  and  barren,  the 
only  exception  in  favour  of  Gerizim  being  a  small  ravine  opposite 
the  west  end  of  Nabulus,  which  is  full  of  springs  and  trees.  On 
the  summit  of  Gerizim  is  a  table-land,  stretching  to  the  west  and 
south-west,  from  one  point  of  which  there  is  a  commanding  view 
of  the  valley,  and  of  Mount  Ebal  on  the  opposite  side  of  it,  the 


112  THE  DESTKUCTION  OF  AI. 

top  of  which  also  spreads  into  a  table-land,  but  more  rocky  and 
broken,  and  less  susceptible  of  cultivation.^  The  breadth  of  the 
valley,  from  the  foot  of  Mount  Ebal  to  that  of  Mount  Gerizim,  is 
not  more,  in  one  spot  at  least,  than  five  hundred  yards  vi^ide, 
extending  from  south-east  to  north-west ;  and  here,  probably, 
the  elders  of  the  people  were  assembled,  whilst  the  vast  masses 
occupied  the  adjacent  slopes.  Eusebius,  and  after  him  Jerome, 
objected  to  this  locaUty  as  the  scene  of  the  events,  on  the  ground 
of  the  wide  interval  between  the  two  mountains,  and  maintained 
that  the  Ebal  and  Gerizim  of  Joshua  were  near  to  Gilgal :  but 
the  interval  is  not  so  great;  and  though  Deut.  xi.  30 — where  it 
is  said,  *  Are  they  not  on  the  other  side  Jordan,  by  the  way 
where  the  sun  goeth  down,  in  the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  which 
dwell  in  the  champaign  over  against  Gilgal ' — would  lead  us  to 
look  for  the  mountains  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jericho,  yet 
the  mention  in  the  same  passage  of  the  terebinths  of  Moreh,^ 
which,  according  to  Gen.  xii.  6,  were  near  to  Sichem,  renders  it 
certain  that  the  common  view  is  correct. 

The  first  act  of  Joshua,  on  arriving  at  this  spot,  was  to  erect 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  on  Mount  Ebal.  It  was 
written  in  the  law,  '  And  if  thou  wilt  build  Me  an  altar  of  stone, 
thou  shalt  not  build  it  of  hewn  stone  :  for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  tool 
upon  it,  thou  hast  polluted  it.'^  It  was  therefore  built  of  whole 
stones,  over  which  no  man  had  lifted  any  iron  tool ;  for  '  had 
the  stones  been  hewn,  they  would  not  have  represented  earth  in 
its  elementary  state,  and  would  not  therefore  have  tallied  with 
the  essential  meaning  of  an  altar,  since  every  bloody  sacrifice 
was  immediately  connected  with  sin  and  death,  by  which  man, 
the  creature  of  earth,  is  brought  to  earth  again.'*  How  false, 
in  this  Hght,  is  the  character  of  the  altars  so  called,  elaborately 

^  Robinson's  Eesearches,  vol.  ii.,  p.  278,  etc. ;  Olin's  Travels,  vol.  ii.,  346,  etc. 
^  See  Stanley,  p.  286,  note ;  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  Art-  '  Ebal.' 
»  Exod.  XX.  25.  <  See  Keil,  in  loco. 


THE  ALTAR  ON  MOUNT  EBAL.  113 

wrought  of  the  most  costly  marble,  erected  in  the  cathedrals  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  But,  iu  fact,  they  are  not  altars,  nor 
should  the. Lord's  table  be  ever  so  designated ;  for  Christianity 
has  but  one  altar — the  cross  of  Christ,  on  which  He  offered  up 
Himself  once  for  all. 

On  this  altar  'they  offered  burnt-oJQferings,  and  sacrijQced 
peace-offerings.'  The  burnt-offerings  were  symbolical  of  the 
solemn  dedication  of  the  people  to  the  Lord ;  and  the  peace- 
offerings,  with  which  thank-offerings  were  associated,  and  a 
sacrificial  feast,  indicated  the  joy  of  the  congregation  on  this 
renewal  of  the  covenant,  all  the  blessings  of  which  they  would 
now  again  have  a  right  to  claim.  Most  impressive  must  have 
been  the  scene  when,  upon  that  lofty  eminence,  and  in  sight  of 
the  vast  multitudes  assembled  on  the  plain  below,  the  priests  pre- 
sented these  offerings  on  the  altar,  and  the  smoke  of  the  burnt- 
sacrifices  ascended  up  to  heaven.  Many  a  heart  would  beat  with 
deep  emotion,  and  that  of  Joshua  himself  would,  we  may  be  sure, 
be  the  seat  of  extraordinary  joy.  For  what  had  God  done  for 
him  since  he  became  the  commander  of  the  people  ?  He  had 
enabled  him  to  surmount  the  greatest  difficulties  ;  He  had  given 
him  the  victory  over  powerful  enemies ;  and  now  He  had  brought 
him  into  the  very  midst  of  the  land  which  was  to  be  the  in- 
heritance of  the  sons  of  Jacob.  Well,  then,  might  Joshua  rejoice ; 
and  well  may  we  conceive  that  that  day  was  one  of  the  happiest 
of  his  life. 

But  another  duty  Joshua  had  also  to  perform.  '  And  it  shall 
be,'  said  Moses,  '  on  the  day  when  ye  shall  pass  over  Jordan  unto 
the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  that  thou  shalt 
set  thee  up  great  stones,  and  plaster  them  with  plaster.  And  thou 
shalt  write  upon  them  all  the  words  of  this  law,  when  thou  art 
passed  over ;  that  thou  mayest  go  in  unto  the  land  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  giveth  thee,  a  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey; 
as  the  Lord  God  of  thy  fathers  hath  promised  thee.     Therefore 

h 


in  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

it  shall  be,  when  ye  are  gone  over  Jordan,  that  ye  shall  set  up 
these  stones,  which  I  command  you  this  day,  in  Mount  Ebal,  and 
thou  shalt  plaster  them  with  plaster.'^  This  important  work 
Joshua  accomplished ;  for  '  he  wrote  there,  upon  the  stones,  a 
copy  of  the  law  of  Moses,  which  he  wrote  in  the  presence  of  the 
children  of  Israel.'^ 

Were  these  stones  the  stones  of  the  altar,  as  Josephus  and 
others  represent  ?  This  is  by  no  means  likely ;  for  the  stones  of 
the  altar  would  be  comparatively  small;  and,  moreover,  they 
were  left  in  their  natural  state,  and  not  covered  over  with 
plaster.  These  stones  were  no  doubt  additional  to  the  stones  of 
the  altar,  and  were  probably  set  up  on  the  sides  of  it.  But 
what  was  written  on  them  ?  Not,  as  some  have  supposed,  the 
whole  of  the  Thorah,  or  law,  moral  and  ceremonial;  for  that 
would  have  been  far  too  lengthy :  nor,  as  others,  the  blessings, 
and  the  cursings,  of  Deut.  xxvii. ;  for  they  were  not  the  law,  but 
only  motives  added  to  impel  or  adjure  the  people  to  keep  it  : 
nor  yet  the  Decalogue,  as  the  substance  of  the  law;  for  the 
Decalogue  is  not  specially  referred  to  either  by  Moses  or  in 
the  narrative  of  Joshua.  Calvin  supposes  that,  by  'the  law' 
here,  is  meant  the  substance  and  sanctions  of  the  law;  and 
Hengstenberg,  Keil,  and  others,  understand  by  it,  '  the  so-called 
second  law,'  contained  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  from  chap. 
iv.  44  to  chap.  xxvi.  19.  This,  it  is  true,  may  appear  a  large 
portion  to  write  on  stones ;  but  when  we  look  at  the  extent  of 
the  writings  on  the  immense  slabs  recently  dug  out  of  the 
mounds  of  Nineveh,  and  when  we  consider  especially  that  this 
writing  was  not  on  the  stones  themselves,  but  on  the  plaster 
which  covered  them,  we  can  easily  conceive  that  the  whole  of 
that  portion  of  Deuteronomy  was  written  upon  them ;  for  the 
stones  were  large,  and  the  number  of  them  was  not  limited. 

But,  was  the  law  written  upon  the  plaster  ?  or  was  it  en- 
'  Deut.  xxvii.  2-4.  2  Josh.  viii.  32. 


WKITING  ON  PLASTER.  115 

graven  on  the  stones,  and  tlien  covered  with  plaster,  that  the  in- 
scriptions might  remain  uninjured,  and  at  a  later  period,  when 
the  plaster-  should  fall  off,  appear  to  view  for  the  first  time  ?  A 
device  of  this  kind  was  adopted  by  Sostratus  the  architect,  who, 
being  ordered  to  engrave  the  name  of  the  king  of  Egypt  on  a 
block  of  marble,  engraved  his  own  name  first,  then  covered  it 
with  plaster,  and  upon  that  inscribed  the  name  of  the  king ;  so 
that  soon  the  king's  name  perished,  whilst  his  own  continued  on 
the  block.  But  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  opinion  that 
Moses  commanded  anything  of  this  sort  to  be  done.  It  is 
evident,  from  the  text  quoted  above,  that  the  law  was  written 
upon  the  plaster  with  which  the  stones  were  coated.  Such 
writing  was  common  in  ancient  times.  *  I  have  seen  numerous 
specimens  of  it,'  says  Dr  Thomson,  'certainly  more  than  two 
thousand  years  old,  and  still  as  distinct  as  when  they  were  first 
inscribed  on  the  plaster.'^  'In  this  hot  chmate,  where  there 
is  no  frost  to  dissolve  the  cement,  it  will  continue  hard  and  un- 
broken for  thousands  of  years,  which  is  certainly  long  enough. 
The  cement  on  Solomon's  Pools  remains  in  admirable  preserva- 
tion, though  exposed  to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  climate,  and 
with  no  protection.  The  cement  in  the  tombs  about  Sidon  is 
still  perfect,  and  the  writing  on  them  entire,  though  acted  upon 
by  the  moist,  damp  air  always  formed  in  caverns,  for  perhaps 
two  thousand  years.  What  Joshua  did,  therefore,  when  he 
erected  the  stones  at  Mount  Ebal,  was  merely  to  write  in  the 
soft  cement  with  a  stile,  or,  more  likely,  on  the  pohshed  sur- 
face when  dry,  with  red  paint,  as  in  ancient  tombs.  If  properly 
sheltered,  and  not  broken  away  by  violence,  they  would  have 
remained  to  this  day.' 

Here,  then,  on  this  lofty  eminence,  were  these  stones  erected ; 
and  for  many  years  afterwards,  in  all  probability,  they  stood  as 
a  monument  of  the  fideHty  of  Joshua,  but  especially  as  witnesses 

1  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  471. 


116  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

for  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Many  a  traveller,  attracted  to  the  spot, 
would  read  there  the  most  solemn  and  impressive  words ;  and, 
had  those  stones  been  listened  to,  what  calamities  would  the 
Israelites,  as  a  people,  have  escaped ! 

We  must  linger  around  Ebal  for  a  little  while  longer,  that 
we  may  witness  a  scene  which,  for  grandeur  and  solemnity, 
has  not  been  equalled  since  the  giving  of  the  law  upon  Mount 
Sinai.  In  the  valley  which  lies  between  Ebal  and  Gerizim 
stands  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord ;  half  the  people 
being  on  the  one  side  of  it  towards  the  former  mount,  and 
half  of  them  on  the  other  side  towards  the  latter.  And  not 
only  are  the  elders  of  the  people  there,  with  the  ofl&cers  and  the 
judges,  but  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  with  the  women,  the 
little  ones,  and  even  the  strangers  that  walked  among  them — the 
descendants,  perhaps,  of  the  mixed  multitude  that  came  with 
them  out  of  Egypt,  or  such  as,  like  Rahab  and  her  family, 
had  already  become  proselytes  from  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Canaan.  All  are  there,  for  all  must  understand  the  obligations 
of  the  covenant  into  which  they  have  been  admitted,  and  learn 
to  fear  its  curses  and  to  aspire  after  its  benefits  and  blessings. 
Beautiful  is  that  valley,  and  beautiful  is  the  whole  scene.  On  a 
carpet  of  most  lovely  green,  the  tints  of  which  are  deepened  here 
and  there  by  the  shadows  of  the  mountains,  thousands  of  men, 
women,  and  children  are  reclining,  in  expectation  of  some  great 
event.  Lovely  melodies  are  caused  by  the  gentle  movements  of 
numerous  olive  trees,  and  by  the  rippling  of  the  waters  of  a 
hundred  little  rills  ;  and  a  delightfully  cool  and  pleasant  atmo- 
sphere pervades  the  spot,  and  renders  it  a  welcome  resting- 
place  for  Israel's  hosts."^  The  Levite  priests  take  their  stand 
upon  Mounts  Ebal  and  Gerizim :  and  beneath  those  who  stand  on 
the  former  mount  are  the  tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  Asher,  Zebulon, 

'  See  the  description  of  this  vale  by  Van  de  Velde,  *  Syria  and  Palestine, 
ii.  293 


THE  CURSES  AND  THE  BLESSINGS.  117 

Dan,  and  Naphtali ;  beneath  those  who  stand  on  the  latter  mount 
are  the  tribes  of  Simeon,  Levi,  Judah,  Issachar,  Joseph,  and 
Benjamin.  •  The  vast  multitude  is  silent,  all  nature  is  calm  and  still, 
and  first  the  deep  voices  of  the  Levites  who  stand  upon  Mount 
Ebal  utter  the  words — 

*  Cursed  he  the  man  that  maketh  any  graven  or  molten  image,  an 
abomination  unto  the  Lord,  the  work  of  the  hands  of  the  craftsman, 
and  putteth  it  in  a  secret  place.^ 

And  from  the  tribes  at  the  foot  of  the  mount  there  arises  a 
loud  AMEN — SO  BE  IT,  which  is  repeated  at  the  close  of  each 
curse  uttered  from  above.^ 

Then  the  voices  of  the  Levites  who  stand  upon  Gerizim  are 
heard  saying — 

'  If  thou  shalt  hearken  diligently  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  observe  and  to  do  all  His  commandments  which  I  command 
thee  this  day,  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  the  Lord  thy  God  ivill  set  thee 
on  high  above  all  nations  of  the  earth :  and  all  these  blessings  shall 
come  on  thee,  and  overtake  thee,  if  thou  shalt  hearken  unto  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  thy  God.  Blessed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city,  and  blessed 
shalt  thou  be  in  the  field.  Blessed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body,  and 
the  fruit  of  thy  ground,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  cattle,  the  increase  of  thy 
kine,  and  thefiocks  of  thy  sheep.  Blessed  shall  be  thy  basket  and  thy 
store.  Blessed  shalt  thou  be  ichen  thou  comest  in,  and  blessed  shalt 
thou  be  when  thou  goest  out.^  ^ 

And  as  each  blessing  is  pronounced,  the  Amen  rises  louder 
and  yet  louder  from  the  tribes  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Gerizim, 
until  at  length  the  last  Amen  is  heard,  and  dies  away  on  the  air. 

*  Deut.  xxvii.  15-26.  That  the  curses  should  be  pronounced  from  the  mount 
on  which  the  altar  was  erected,  appears  to  some  incongruous ;  and  the  Samari- 
tan text  of  the  Pentateuch  represents  the  altar  as  erected  on  Gerizim. 

-  Deut.  xxviii.  1-6.  It  would  seem  that  all  these  words  were  uttered  on 
Mount  Gerizim ;  but  whether  the  whole  chapter  was  repeated  by  the  Levites 
may  be  considered  doubtful.  If  it  was,  part  of  it— vers.  15-68— must  have  been 
uttered  from  Mount  Ebal. 


118  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  AI. 

Deep  was  the  impression  which  this  event  must  have  produced 
upon  the  minds  of  that  vast  assembly.  God  had  promised  ample 
rewards  to  His  servants  who  should  obey  the  law.  On  the  other 
hand,  curses  were  denounced  in  order  to  deter  transgressors. 
'Each  is  now  forced  to  subscribe  to  his  own  condemnation, 
while  an  amen  is  the  response  to  every  single  sentence.  For  in 
this  way  they  not  only  hear  themselves  condemned  by  the  mouth 
of  God,  but,  as  if  they  had  been  heralds  sent  by  Him,  they  de- 
nounce the  punishment  which  may  await  themselves.  A  similar 
promulgation  was  made  in  the  plain  of  Moab  beyond  the  Jordan; 
but  now  they  are  bound  more  solemnly,  and  acknowledge  on  what 
condition  they  are  to  dwell  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  It  added  no 
little  weight  to  the  whole,  that  the  children  also  were  admitted 
as  witnesses.' — (Calvin.) 


HEWERS  OF  "WOOD. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 


THE     GIBEONITES. 


^EARLY  lialf-waj  between  Beth-el  and  the  vale  of 
Shechem,  on  the  road  leading  from  Jerusalem  to  the 
latter,  is  a  village  now  called  Jiljiha,  which  stands  on 
a  lofty  eminence,  and  affords  an  extensive  view  over  the  great 
plain  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.^  The  name  Jiljilia  corresponds 
with  the  ancient  name  Gilgal ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  it 
was  here,  and  not  at  the  Gilgal  near  to  Jericho,  that  Joshua 
encamped  after  the  scene  which  occurred  at  Mount  Gerizim. 
Eor  that,  after  advancing  so  far  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 
he  would  retrace  his  steps,  and  bring  that  vast  multitude  back  to 

'  Eobinsons  '  Eesearclies,'  ii.,  p.  265. 


120  THE  GIBEONITES. 

the  Gilgal  on  which  they  first  encamped,  is  altogether  improbable ; 
whilst  JiljiUa,  which  was  but  a  few  miles  south  of  Gerizim,  was 
a  most  eligible  spot  from  which  to  direct  his  future  operations. 
'  Who  can  believe  that  this  commander,  after  he  had  long  left 
the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  penetrated  so  far  into  the  moun- 
tainous country,  would  retire  with  his  whole  army  behind  Jericho 
into  the  Jordan  vale,  in  order  to  undertake  further  operations  ? 
To  so  improbable  a  supposition  it  was  necessary  to  yield,  only 
if  another  Gilgal  had  not  existed  in  Palestine, — if  Gilgal  over 
against  Ebal  and  Gerizim  had  not  already  been  made  known 
to  Moses.' ^  But  another  Gilgal  is  mentioned  in  Deut.  xi.  30; 
and  we  meet  with  it  again,  at  a  later  period,  in  the  history  of 
the  prophet  Elijah,  of  whom  it  is  said,  that,  being  at  Gilgal 
with  Elisha,  he  '■went  down  to  Beth-el,'^ — an  expression  which 
would  be  wholly  incorrect  if  the  Gilgal  referred  to  was  that 
near  Jericho,  but  not  if  it  were  the  Gilgal  now  pointed  out ;  for 
the  former  is  considerably  lower  than  Beth-el,  whilst  the  latter 
is  somewhat  higher. 

Here,  then,  Joshua  and  his  army  are  encamped  (Josh.  ix.  6), 
when  a  confederacy  is  formed  against  him  by  several  of  the 
kings  of  the  country,  who,  having  partly  recovered  from  the 
panic  occasioned  by  his  victories,  are  resolved  to  give  him  battle, 
and  to  prevent,  if  possible,  his  further  progress.  This  was 
natural,  and  by  no  means  surprising.  There  was,  however,  one 
tribe  that  did  not  join  in  the  confederacy,  but,  to  secure  their 
own  welfare,  took  a  very  different  course ;  and  before  the  histo- 
rian proceeds  to  narrate  the  circumstances  of  the  conflict  with 
the  hostile  nations,  he  pauses  to  describe  the  plan  adopted  by 
this  one  tribe,  together  with  the  results  that  followed  (chap.  ix. 
3-27). 

'  Keil's  Commentary  on  Kings,  vol.  i.,  p.  340,  note ;  Clark.     See  also  his 
Commentary  on  Joshua,  p.  232 ;  and  Van  de  Velde's  Map  and  Memoir,  p-  316. 
2  2  Kings  ii.  2. 


GIBEON.  121 

Gabaon,  or  Gibeon,  which  signiiaes  literally  a  high  hill,  was 
one  of  the  royal  cities  of  Canaan,  and  was  situated,  according  to 
Josephus,  -fifty  stadia,  or  rather  more  than  six  Roman  miles,  from 
the  city  of  Jerusalem.  ^  Somewhat  farther  from  Jerusalem  than 
this,  is  a  village  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  called  el- Jib, 
respecting  which  Dr  Robinson  observes,  '  It  is  not  difficult  to 
recognise  in  el-Jib  and  its  rocky  eminence  the  ancient  Gibeon  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  Gabaon  of  Josephus ;  although  the  specifica- 
tions which  have  come  down  to  us  respecting  the  position  of  that 
place  are  somewhat  confused.  There  is,  however,  enough  in 
connection  with  the  name  to  mark  the  identity  of  the  spot. 
The  name  Jib  in  Arabic  is  merely  the  abridged  form  of  the 
Hebrew  Gibeon ;  and  presents  perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
instance  that  occurred  to  us,  in  which  the  'Ain  of  the  Hebrew, 
that  most  tenacious  of  letters,  has  been  dropped  in  passing  over 
into  the  Arabic.'^  Such  then  was  the  site  of  the  city  of  the 
Gibeonites,  who  seem  to  have  been  accounted  a  brave  people,^ 
and  who  formed  part  of  a  republic,  governed  by  elders,  which 
also  embraced  the  towns  Chephirah,  Beeroth,  and  Kirjath- 
jearim.     Chap.  ix.  17. 

These  were  the  people  who  stood  aloof  from  the  confederacy. 
The  other  tribes  resolved  to  resort  to  force  in  order  to  resist  the 
progress  of  Joshua ;  the  Gibeonites,  on  the  other  hand,  had  re- 
course to  craft. 

Having  heard  what  Joshua  had  done  to  Jericho  and  to  Ai, 
they  went  to  work  wilily,  even  as  the  sons  of  Jacob  had  done 
to  some  of  their  ancestors  several  centuries  before.'*  Theirs, 
however,  was  a  wiser  and  more  righteous  stratagem,  and  dis- 
played no  little  tact,  prudence,  and  foresight.  '  I  commend  their 
wisdom  in  seeking  peace,'  says  Bishop  Hall ;  '  I  do  not  commend 
iheir  falsehood  in  the  manner  of  seeking  it.'     What  did  they  ? 

^  Wars  ii.  19,  1 ;  comp.  Antiq.  vii.  11,  7,  where  it  is  said  to  be  40  stadia. 
2  ♦  Eesearches'  i.,  p.  455.  ^  Josli.  x.  2.  *  Gen.  xxxiv.  25-28. 


122  THE  GIBEONITES. 

Wait  until  the  army  of  Joshua  surrounded  their  cities,  and  then 
sue  for  peace  ?  To  have  done  that,  would  have  been  useless ;  for, 
whether  they  knew  it  or  not,  Joshua  had  no  authority  to  spare 
any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  land.  At  once,  and  notwithstanding 
the  scorn  and  derision  of  their  neighbours,  who  would  probably 
charge  them  with  treachery  and  cowardice,  they  resolved  to  send 
ambassadors  to  the  camp  at  Gilgal,  and  to  make  such  represen- 
tations to  the  commander  of  the  Israelites  as  they  thought  would 
be  hkely  to  excite  his  pity.  Our  version  says,  that  *  they  made 
as  if  they  had  been  ambassadors,'  but  they  were  truly  ambassa- 
dors ;  and  '  hence,'  says  Keil,  '  the  whole  passage  should  be  trans- 
lated, "  they  went  and  travelled  as  ambassadors,"  or,  "they  started 
on  their  journey  as  ambassadors/' ' 

Observe  them  carefully,  and  take  notice  of  their  equipment. 
They  are  covered  with  old  garments ;  on  their  feet  they  have  old 
shoes  strongly  mended;^  their  bread  is  dry  and  crumbled  ;2 
and  their  asses  they  have  laden  with  their  provisions,  in  old 
worn-out  sacks,  and  old  leathern  bottles^  made  of  the  skins  of 
goats,  torn  and  tied  up.  In  this  apparently  miserable  plight 
they  commence  their  journey  to  Gilgal,  where,  as  we  have 
seen,  Joshua's  army  is  encamped.  The  distance  is  about  fifteen 
Roman  miles ;  so  that  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  hours  they 
arrive  at  the  spot,  and  in  their  singular  attire  present  themselves 

*  Or  clouted,  S-i',s^t:»p.  2  Qr  mouldy,  W'f:. 

^  E.g.,  wine-bottles ;  but  such  bottles,  used  also  for  water  and  milk,  were  made 
of  leather,  or  of  skins  prepared  in  the  manner  described  by  Dr  Robinson,  as  fol- 
lows :— '  These  are  merely  the  skins  of  goats  stripped  off  whole,  except  at  the 
neck ;  the  holes  at  the  legs  and  tails  being  sewed  up.  They  are  first  stuffed  out 
full,  and  strained  by  driving  in  small  billets  and  chips  of  oak  wood,  and  are  then 
filled  with  a  strong  infusion  of  oak  bark  for  a  certain  time,  until  the  hair-becomes 
fixed,  and  the  skin  sufficiently  tanned.  This  constitutes  the  whole  process. 
Not  less  than  fifteen  hundred  skins  were  lying,  thus  stuffed,  in  rows  about  the 
yard.  They  are  sold  at  different  prices,  from  fifteen  up  to  forty  piastres.' — 
Researches  ii.  79.  We  have  seen  many  such  skins,  similarly  prepared,  and 
others  differently,  in  South  Africa,  where  they  are  used  chiefly  as  milk-sacks. 


REPLY  OF  THE  AMBASSADORS.  123 

before  Joshua  and  the  elders  of  the  people.  Of  their  number 
we  are  not  informed,  but  it  was  probably  not  large ;  yet  at  once 
they  attract  attention,  and,  addressing  Joshua  and  the  men  of 
Israel,  they  say,  '  We  be  come  from  a  far  country  ;  now  there- 
fore make  ye  a  league  with  us.'  But  '  peradventure  ye  dwell 
among  us,'  is  the  reply  ;  '  and  how  shall  we  make  a  league  with 
you  V  That  the  Israelites  should  not  form  an  alliance  with  any 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan,  was  the  express  command  of  God. 
*  When  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  deliver  them  before  thee,  thou 
shalt  smite  them,  and  utterly  destroy  them  ;  thou  shalt  make  no 
covenant  with  them,  nor  show  mercy  unto  them.'^  Such  was 
the  injunction  of  the  Most  High ;  for,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
the  nations  of  Canaan  had  now  filled  up  the  measure  of  their 
iniquities,  and  were  henceforth  to  be  dealt  with  as  incorrigible 
sinners.  How,  then,  could  the  Israelites  make  a  league  with  any 
of  them  ?  This  was  their  difficulty.  *  Who  are  ye  ?  and  from 
whence  come  ye  ? '  said  Joshua,  therefore,  to  the  Gibeonites. 
They  answered,  '  From  a  very  far  country  thy  servants  are  come 
because  of  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God :  for  we  have  heard  the 
fame  of  Him,  and  all  that  He  did  in  Egypt,  and  all  that  He  did 
to  the  two  kings  of  the  Amorites,  that  were  beyond  Jordan,  to 
Sihon  king  of  Heshbon,  and  to  Og  king  of  Bashan,  which  was 
at  Ashtaroth.  Wherefore  our  elders,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of 
our  country,  spake  to  us,  saying.  Take  victuals  with  you  for  the 
journey,  and  go  to  meet  them,  and  say  unto  them.  We  are  your 
servants :  therefore  now  make  ye  a  league  with  us.  This  our  ^ 
bread  we  took  hot  for  our  provision  out  of  our  houses  on  the 
day  we  came  forth  to  go  unto  you  ;  but  now,  behold,  it  is  dry, 
and  it  is  mouldy  :  and  these  bottles  of  wine  which  we  filled  were 
new ;  and,  behold,  they  be  rent :  and  these  our  garments  and 
our  shoes  are  become  old  by  reason  of  the  very  long  journey.' 
Yers.  9-13.     It  was  a  strange  story,  and  almost  as  full  of  false- 

^  Deut.  vii.  2,  comp.  Exod.  xxiii.  32,  xxxiv.  12. 


124  THE  GIBEONITES. 

hoods  as  of  words.  As  to  the  '  very  far  country,'  Joshua  might 
have  asked,  Where  is  it  ?  Eastward  it  could  not  be ;  for  from 
the  other  side  Jordan,  in  that  direction,  the  IsraeUtes  had  them- 
selves come.  Westward  it  could  not  be ;  for  but  a  few  miles 
distant  was  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  Great  Sea.  Could 
it  then  be  southward  ?  What  nations  resided  in  that  direction, 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  land  of  Canaan?  'They  might 
possibly  have  come  from  the  north  ;  for  there,  among  the  moun- 
tains, there  were  perhaps  tribes  and  nations  beyond  the  borders 
of  the  land  which  God  had  given  to  His  people ;  and  perhaps 
Joshua  thought  that  their  home  was  really  there.  But  he  might 
have  asked  again,  '  If  you  dwell  at  so  great  a  distance,  why  are 
you  so  anxious?  for  we  are  come,  not  to  molest  you,  but 
only  to  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  we  are  now  in.' 
Joshua,  however,  seems  not  to  have  thought  of  this ;  and  these 
Gibeonites,  anxious  only  to  save  their  lives,  supposed  that  if  they 
only  induced  the  Israelites  to  make  a  league  with  them,  they 
would  certainly  be  spared,  even  though  it  would  ultimately  appear 
that  they  had  acted  falsely,  and  had  spoken  hes. 

The  injunction  given  to  the  IsraeUtes  not  to  make  a  covenant 
with  the  nations,  did  not  extend  to  those  nations  that  dwelt 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  Canaan  ;^  and  of  this  fact  the  Gibeon- 
ites had  probably  become  aware.  Joshua  might,  then,  supposing 
that  their  story  was  true,  very  innocently  receive  them  into  his 
service;  and  this  he  did,  for  '  the  Israelites  took  of  their  victuals, 
and  asked  not  counsel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  And  Joshua 
made  peace  with  them,  and  made  a  league  with  them,  to  let 
them  live :  and  the  princes  of  the  congregation  sware  unto  them.' 

*  Deut.  XX.  10,  11 :  '  "When  tliou  comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight  against  it, 
then  proclaim  peace  unto  it.  And  it  shall  be,  if  it  make  thee  an  answer  of 
peace,  and  open  unto  thee,  then  it  shall  be,  that  all  the  people  that  is  found 
therein  shall  be  tributaries  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  serve  thee.'  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  these  directions  related,  not  to  the  cities  within  the  boundaries  of 
Canaan,  but  to  those  without  them.     See  our  former  remarks  in  chap,  v.,  p.  80. 


HYPOCRISY.  125 

*  They  took  of  their  victuals/  not,  as  some  have  supposed,  in 
sign  of  friendship,  or  as  a  ratification  of  the  treaty ;  nor  yet,  as 
others  think,  to  taste  them,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  they 
were  really  old ;  but  they  took  them  in  their  hands,  credulously- 
believed  their  story,  and  looked  closely  at  their  provisions, 
instead  of  asking  '  counsel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.' 

It  is  surprising  how  the  usual  foresight  and  sagacity  of  Joshua 
failed  him  here.  His  duty  was,  in  a  case  like  this,  to  have 
recourse  to  the  Urim  and  Thummim  of  the  high  priest,  and 
thereby  to  ascertain  whether  the  account  these  strangers  gave 
of  themselves  was  true  or  not.  And  had  he  entertained  any 
doubt  respecting  them,  this  he  would  certainly  have  done.  But 
he  and  the  elders  of  Israel  were  too  ready  to  listen  to  their  story; 
and  ridiculous,  and  even  absurd  as  it  really  was,  gave  to  it  at 
once  their  imphcit  credence.  Though  it  is  not  well  to  cultivate 
a  suspicious  temper  of  mind,  yet  to  be  over-credulous  is  also 
dangerous.  Too  confident  and  trustful  in  the  word  of  God  we 
cannot  be  ;  but  in  the  word  of  man,  deceitful  and  cunning  as  he 
often  is,  we  may  be.  We  do  not,  it  is  true,  like  to  be  suspected 
of  falsehood  or  of  hypocrisy  ourselves,  and  therefore  we  ought 
not,  on  slender  grounds,  to  suspect  others.  But  in  deahng  with 
perfect  strangers,  of  whose  character  we  are  wholly  ignorant, 
prudence  would  dictate  that  we  should  not  give  them  our  entire 
confidence  hastily,  but  suspend  our  judgment  for  a  while,  until 
we  have  had  sufficient  time  to  form  a  correct  one.  Joshua 
might  have  said  to  the  ambassadors,  '  The  account  you  give  of 
yourselves  seems  plausible ;  but  we  cannot  at  once  comply  with 
your  request,  until  we  see  whether  or  not  you  are  inhabitants  of 
the  laud.'  But  he  did  not  wait  even  one  day,  but  at  once  con- 
fided in  their  word. 

His  great  error  was,  however,  in  not  asking  counsel  of  the 
Lord.  It  was  his  special  privilege,  as  the  leader  of  God's 
people,  to  take  every  matter  of  difficulty  to  the  high  priest, 


126  THE  GIBEONITES. 

who,  by  the  Uriin  and  ThummhTi  in  his  breastplate,  could 
inquire  of  the  Lord  respecting  it,  and  receive  such  an  answer  as 
would  wholly  solve  it.^  How  many  evils  arise  from  a  similar 
neglect !  Too  often  do  we  fail  to.  ask  counsel  of  the  Lord,  and 
hence  we  fall  into  innumerable  errors.  If,  in  seasons  of  per- 
plexity and  doubt,  when  our  way  is  hedged  up,  and  the  dark 
clouds  of  adversity  are  hanging  over  us,  and  we  know  not  what 
course  to  adopt,  or  what  path  to  pursue,  we  were  to  carry  our 
difficulties  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and  ask  the  wisdom  which  is 
profitable  to  direct,  we  should  doubtless  escape  a  host  of  diffi- 
culties. But,  instead  of  this,  we  either  form  and  act  upon  a 
hasty  decision  of  our  own,  or  we  take  the  advice  of  erring 
mortals  like  ourselves;  nay,  there  are  some  amongst  us  who, 
hke  Saul,  seem  disposed  to  seek  counsel  of  those  who  profess  to 
have  a  familiar  spirit,  like  the  witch  of  Endor,  who  put  confidence 
in  clairvoyants,  and  media,  and  other  such  foolery,  rather  than  in 
the  living  God!  'If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of 
God,  that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not,  and  it 
shall  be  given  him,'  is  a  promise  applicable  both  to  secular  and 
to  sacred  things  ;  and  facts  innumerable  go  to  prove  that  those 
who  are  in  the  habit  of  carrying  the  perplexities  of  daily  life 
directly  to  the  Most  High,  and  asking  counsel  at  His  mouth, 
are  often — may  we  not  say  invariably? — led  aright.  Not  miracu- 
lously, not  by  an  audible  voice  from  heaven,  but  by  the  finger 
of  Providence  and  the  silent  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  do 
those  who  ask  counsel  of  the  Lord  in  humility  and  in  faith 
obtain  the  counsel  they  ask;  and,  taught  of  Him,  guided  in 
every  step  of  life  by  Him,  they  avoid  many  errors  into  which 
others  fall. ' 

But  to  return  to  the  narrative  :  Joshua  granted  the  Gibeonites 
peace,  and  made  a  league  with  them,  to  let  them  live ;  and  this 
covenant  was  ratified  by  the  solemn  oath  of  the  princes  of  the 

1  See  1  Sam.  xxviii.  6 :  Ezra  ii.  63 :  Neh.  vii.  65. 


THE  PLOT  DISCOVERED.  127 

congregation,  so  that  the  ambassadors  would  return  to  Gibeon 
satisfied  that  they  had  fully  succeeded  in  their  enterprise. 

Three, days  elapsed,  and  then  the  Israelites  discovered  that 
they  had  been  deceived.  It  was  scarcely  possible  that  the  truth 
of  the  matter  could  be  hidden  long,  and  perhaps  the  G-ibeonites 
themselves  were  not  desirous  that  it  should ;  yet  they  were  not 
the  first  to  reveal  it,  for  the  Israelites  came  on  the  third  day  to 
their  cities,  Gibeon,  and  Chephirah,  and  Beeroth,  and  Kirjath- 
jearim,  and  then  found  that  they  belonged  to  the  very  people 
with  whom  they  had  made  a  league.  The  position  of  the  first 
of  these  cities  we  have  already  pointed  out.  Chephirah  was 
afterwards  assigned  to  Benjamin,  Josh,  xviii.  26,  and  mention 
is  made  of  it  subsequent  to  the  captivity.-^  'It  is  now,'  says 
Yan  de  Yelde,  '  a  ruin  called  Kefir,  on  the  heights  south  of  Wady 
Soleimon,  about  one  hour  east  of  Talo.'^  Yalo  Dr  Robinson 
regarded  as  the  ancient  Aijalon,  and  he  observes,  '  At  Yalo  we 
were  told  of  a  ruin  in  the  mountains,  on  the  east,  said  not  to  be 
far  off,  called  Kefir.  It  was,  however,  now  too  late  for  us  to 
visit  it  from  Yalo ;  nor  were  we  able  afterwards  to  make  an  ex- 
cursion to  it  from  Jerusalem.  But  in  the  name  Kefir  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  recognise  the  ancient  Chephirah,  a  city  of  the 
Gibeonites,  afterwards  assigned  to  Benjamin,  and  after  the  cap- 
tivity again  inhabited  by  the  returning  exiles.'^  It  is  about 
7^  Roman  miles  west  of  Gibeon,  and  15  south-west  of  Gilgal. 
Beeroth  was  identified  by  Dr  Robinson  with  the  modern  el- 
Bireh,  a  village  10  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  on  the  road  to 
Shechem  (Nabulus),  and  five  miles  north  of  Gibeon.  '  The  corre- 
spondence of  the  names,'  says  Robinson,  '  is  in  itself  sufficiently 
decisive.  And  further,  according  to  Eusebius,  Beeroth  was 
seen  by  the  traveller  in  passing  from  Jerusalem  to  Neapohs,  at 
the  seventh  Roman  mile.     This  road  was  the  present  camel-path 

"      1  Ezra  ii.  25 ;  Neh.  vii.  29.  -  '  Memoir,'  p.  303. 

'  '  Kesearclaes,'  vol,  iii ,  p  146. 


128  THE  GIBEONITES. 

from  Jerusalem  to  Ramleh,  passing  near  el- Jib.  And  to  this 
day  the  description  of  Eusebius  holds  true.'^  It  is  '  remarkable,* 
observes  Dr  Stanley,  '  as  the  first  halting-place  of  caravans  on 
the  northern  road  from  Jerusalem,  and  therefore,  not  improbably, 
the  scene  of  the  event  to  which  its  monastic  tradition  lays  claim 
— the  place  where  the  "parents"  of  Jesus  "sought  Him  among 
their  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance ;  and  when  they  found  Him  not, 
turned  back  again  to  Jerusalem." '^  Kirjath-jearim,  or  Hhe  city 
of  forests,'  called  also  Kirjath-baal,  or  *the  city  of  the  sanctuary,' 
is  now  represented  by  a  village  named  Kuriet  el-Enab,  '  the  city 
of  grapes,'  situated  nine  Roman  miles  from  Jerusalem,  on  the 
way  to  Ramleh  and  Lydda.^  It  was  a  frontier  city  of  Judah 
and  Benjamin;*  and  at  a  later  period  was  the  place  to  which 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  brought  from  Beth-shemesh.^ 

Thus  all  the  cities  of  the  Gibeonites  have  been  identified, 
and  they  all  lay  within  a  comparatively  narrow  circuit.  The 
children  of  Israel  did  not  destroy  them,  or  even  injure  them, 
*  because  the  princes  of  the  congregation  had  sworn  unto  them 
by  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.'  But  were  they  then  bound  to  stand 
by  a  treaty  which  they  had  entered  into  under  false  impressions  ? 
This  is  a  question  of  considerable  importance,  and  has  perplexed 
commentators  not  a  little.  Some  have  supposed  that  legally 
they  were  under  no  obligation  to  keep  the  treaty,  inasmuch  as 
it  was  made  with  the  understanding  that  the  Gibeonites  did  not 
belong  to  the  tribes  of  Canaan ;  whilst  others  think  that,  inasmuch 
as  no  proviso  was  introduced  into  the  treaty,  to  the  effect  that 
it  should  be  binding  only  if  the  story  of  the  Gibeonites  was  found 
true,  the  Israelites  could  not  violate  it  without  gross  injustice. 
The  former  is  undoubtedly  the  more  correct  view  of  the  case ; 
for  though  there  was  no  such  proviso  in  the  exact  terms  of  the 

'  '  Eesearches,'  vol.  i.,  p.  452.  -  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  211. 

5  Eobinson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  11.  *  Josh,  xviii.  14 ;  Judg.  xviii.  12. 

•  1  Sam.  vi.  21. 


MURMURS  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  129 

treaty,  yet  such  was  the  representation  of  the  Gibeonites,  and  on 
that  representation  the  treaty  was  framed.  The  Israelites  might, 
therefore,  have  said,  '  We  did  indeed  form  a  league  with  you, 
and  promise  you,  with  an  oath,  that  we  would  not  injure  you ; 
but  it  was,  as  you  yourselves  must  acknowledge,  under  the  false 
impression  that  you  came  from  a  distance.  "We  are  not,  then, 
bound  to  fulfil  our  promise,  for  we  have  no  authority  to  make 
peace  with  any  of  the  nations  of  Canaan ;  and  you,  as  well  as  the 
rest,  must  fall  before  the  avenging  sword.' 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  something  so  solemn  in  the  nature 
of  an  oath,  that  even  when  '  a  man  sweareth  to  his  own  hurt'  he 
ought  not  to  change,  unless,  by  standing  to  his  word,  he  injures 
not  himself  only,  but  society  at  large.  Perhaps  it  will  be  said 
that  this  was  just  a  case  of  that  kind,  and  that  the  princes  of 
the  congregation,  by  honouring  their  treaty,  were  dishonouring 
their  own  people,  and  placing  them  in  great  jeopardy.  Hence 
*all  the  congregation  murmured  against  the  princes,'  for  they 
doubtless  felt  afraid  that  the  Gibeonites  would  become  a  plague 
to  them,  or  that  some  such  calamity  would  occur,  as  happened 
when  Achan  took  of  the  spoils  in  disobedience  to  God's  command. 
Yery  different  was  the  murmuring  of  the  Israelites,  on  this  occa- 
sion, from  the  murmurings  of  their  ancestors  against  Moses  and 
against  God.  These  murmurings  were  founded  on  the  fact  that 
Joshua  and  the  princes  had  spared  a  nation  which  the  divine 
mandate  required  them  to  destroy ;  the  earlier  murmurings  were 
those  of  an  ungrateful  and  discontented  race,  whom  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  please.  For  these  murmurings,  then,  the  Israelites 
are  not  to  be  condemned;  yet  the  princes  said  in  reply,  'We 
have  sworn  unto  them  by  the  Lord  God  of  Israel :  now,  there- 
fore, we  may  not  touch  them;'  and,  inasmuch  as  they  felt  their 
oath  so  sacred,  neither  in  this  respect  are  the  princes  to  be  con- 
demned. They  did  wrong  in  giving  credence  to  the  story  of 
the  Gibeonites  without  asking  counsel  of  the  Lord;  and  they 


130  THE  GIBEONITES. 

did  wroDg  in  making  a  league  with  them,  and  ratifying  that 
league  by  swearing  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 
But  as  they  conscientiously  believed  that  their  oath  was  binding 
on  them,  now  that  it  was  made,  they  did  right  in  observing  it ; 
and  their  doing  so  was  not,  as  Calvin  affirms,  a  fresh  violation 
of  the  will  of  God,  for  even  an  oath  imprudently  taken  cannot  be 
violated  without  sin,  if  the  conscience  of  a  man  tells  him  that  he 
ought  to  keep  it ;  and  they  were  afraid  that,  if  they  did  disregard 
their  oath,  the  divine  wrath  would  fall  upon  them  for  their  sin."" 
But  what,  then,  could  be  done  ?  Could  the  Gibeonites,  now 
that  their  falsehood  was  found  out,  be  permitted  to  live  among 
the  Israelites  in  perfect  freedom,  and  to  retain  possession  of 
their  lands  and  cities?  JS^o.  They  had  sinned,  and  their  sins 
deserved  punishment,  as  both  the  people  felt  and  the  princes 
themselves  acknowledged.  The  latter,  therefore,  said,  'Let  them 
live;  and  let  them  be  hewers  of  wood,  and  drawers  of  water,  unto 
all  the  congregation:'  and  this  being  agreed  to,  the  Gibeonites, 
or  their  ambassadors,  were  summoned  into  Joshua's  presence  to 
hear  their  doom.  They  came,  and  with  mingled  feelings  of 
satisfaction  at  the  thought  that  they  had  saved  their  lives, 
yet  perhaps  of  fear,  if  not  of  terror,  lest  their  fate  should  be 
even  worse  than  death  itself,  they  stood  before  the  illustrious 
commander  of  the  Israelites.  With  becoming  dignity  he  ad- 
dresses them,  and  says,  '  Wherefore  have  ye  beguiled  us,  saying, 
We  are  very  far  from  you ;  when  ye  dwell  among  us  ?  Now 
therefore  ye  are  cursed ;  and  there  shall  none  of  you  be  freed 
from  being  bondmen,  and  hewers  of  wood,  and  drawers  of  water, 
for  the  house  of  my  God,'  They  hsten,  and  this  is  their  reply: 
'  Because  it  was  certainly  told  thy  servants,  how  that  the  Lord 
thy  God  commanded  His  servant  Moses  to  give  you  all  th-e  land, 
and  to  destroy  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  from  before  you, 

^  Sec  Calvin's  'Commentary'  in  loco,  -where  this  question  is  discussed  at 
length ;  and  compare  the  remarks  of  Keil. 


HEWERS  OF  WOOD  AND  DRAWERS  OF  WATER.        131 

therefore  we  were  sore  afraid  of  our  lives  because  of  jou,  and 
have  done  this  thing.  And  now,  behold,  we  are  in  thine  hand : 
as  it  seemeth  good  and  right  unto  thee  to  do  unto  us,  do.' 

We  have  ah'eady  seen  how  intelHgence  of  the  conquests  gained 
by  the  Israehtes  had  spread  through  the  land  of  Canaan;  and 
this  intelligence  having  reached  the  ears  of  the  Gibeonites,  they 
were,  and  well  might  be,  afraid  of  their  lives.  It  was  for  their 
lives  that  they  devised  this  stratagem :  for  all  that  a  man  hath 
will  he  give  for  his  life.  Liberty  is  precious,  and  men  will  some- 
times risk  their  lives  to  secure  it,  and  perish  in  the  attempt ;  but 
give  a  man,  or  give  a  people,  the  choice  between  bondage  and 
death,  and  it  is  all  but  certain  that  the  former  will  be  jDreferred. 
The  love  of  hfe  is  instinctive  in  us  all ;  and  only  when  the  hope 
of  another  and  a  happier  life  is  implanted  in  the  breast,  are  we 
disposed  to  surrender  it  without  a  struggle.  No  wonder,  then, 
that  the  Gibeonites,  ignorant  as  they  were  of  the  higher  prin- 
ciples of  morality,  should  have  recourse  to  stratagem  and  false- 
hood for  tlie  security  of  their  lives.  They  were  willing,  however, 
to  submit  to  whatever  task  might  be  imposed  on  them  ;  and  they 
became  henceforth  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  the 
congregation,  and  for  the  altar  of  the  Lord. 

Hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  are  both  very  useful 
servants  in  the  East ;  but  the  work  is  often  laborious,  and  is 
generally  assigned  to  the  lowest  class  of  menials.  The  hewers 
of  wood  have  to  fetch  it  from  the  forest,  and  then  to  cut  it  up 
into  pieces  suitable  for  burning.  The  drawers  of  water  have  to 
go  to  the  rivers  or  to  the  wells  outside  the  town,  and  bring  it  in 
vessels  on  their  heads,  or  in  prepared  goat-skins  on  their  backs, 
or  on  the  backs  of  camels  or  of  asses.  'In  a  time  of  pubHc 
calamity,'  says  Dr  Kitto,  '  the  water-carriers  are  the  last  to  dis- 
continue this ;  and  their  doing  so  is  a  sure  indication  that  the 
distress  has  become  intense  and  imminent,  and  is,  indeed,  a  great 
calamity  in  itself.     The  writer  remembers  that,  when  this  hap- 


132  THE  GIBEONITES. 

pened  in  the  time  when  a  severe  plague  was  raging,  Europeans, 
who  were  quite  alive  to  the  importance  of  maintaining  a  strict 
quarantine  in  their  own  houses,  were,  nevertheless,  obliged  to 
go  out  from  the  town  to  fetch  water  for  themselves  from  a 
distant  river.'  To  have  abundance  of  coal  with  which  to  supply 
our  fires,  instead  of  having  to  hew  wood  for  the  purpose,  is  a 
great  advantage ;  and  to  have  water  conveyed  by  pipes  through 
our  streets  and  into  our  houses,  is  one  of  the  benefits  of  modern 
civiHsation,  the  value  of  which,  even  as  a  saving  of  labour  only,  it 
is  impossible  to  over-estimate ;  whilst  to  see  drinking  fountains 
at  every  few  yards'  distance,  as  we  now  do  in  some  of  our  popu- 
lous towns  and  cities,  is  a  sight  most  refreshing  to  the  eye,  and  a 
Jl^essing  for  which  many  a  thirsty  one  will  give  thanks. 

It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  Gibeonites 
were  made  domestic  slaves  to  the  Israelites,  and  thence  to  derive 
an  argument  in  favour  of  such  slavery  as  existed  a  few  years  ago 
in  some  of  our  British  colonies,  or  as  now  exists  in  the  Southern 
States  of  America,  and  elsewhere.  No  !  though,  as  descendants 
of  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  they  were  under  the  curse,  and 
though  they  had  forfeited,  by  their  crimes,  their  liberties  and  even 
their  lives,  yet  they  were  not  made  slaves  to  the  Israelites,  as 
the  Israelites  had  been  slaves  to  the  Egyptians,  but  were  ap- 
pointed to  relieve  the  congregation  in  the  work  of  hewing  wood 
and  drawing  water  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  Somewhat 
onerous  would  this  service  be,  during  the  great  festivals  of  the 
nation  especially ;  but  the  Gibeonites  appear  to  have  discharged 
their  task  with  considerable  fidelity :  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
that  at  Gibeon,  which  became  one  of  the  Levitical  cities,  the 
tabernacle,  was  set  up  for  many  years  under  the  reigns  of  David 
and  Solomon,  the  ark  of  the  covenant  being  at  Jerusalem ;  for 
David  left  '  Zadok  the  priest,  and  his  brethren  the  priests,  before 
the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  in  the  high  place  that  was  at 
Gibeon,  to  offer  burnt-offerings  unto  the  Lord  upon  the  altar 


THEIR  SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY.  133 

of  the  burnt-offering  continually  morning  and  evening,  and  to 
do  according  to  all  that  is  written  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  which 
he  commanded  in  Israel.'^  It  was  here  that  Joab  laid  hold  on 
the  horns  of  the  altar  in  the  tabernacle,  and  at  Solomon's  com- 
mand was  slain;-  and  it  was  here  that,  shortly  after,  Solomon 
went  up  to  sacrifice — for  it  was  the  great  high  place — a  thousand 
burnt-offerings  upon  the  altar  before  the  Lord,  and  that  the  Lord 
appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  by  night,  and  said,  '  Ask  what  I 
shall  give  thee,'  and,  at  Solomon's  request,  gave  him  a  wise  and 
understanding  heart.^  Dr  Stanley  is  of  opinion  that  '  the  great 
high  place'  above  mentioned,  on  which  the  tabernacle  stood, 
was  '  the  lofty  height  of  Nebi-Samuel,  towering  immediately  over 
the  town  El- Jib  ;'  and  if  the  fact  that  this  height  is  more  than 
a  mile  from  El-Jib,  is  not  a  vaUd  objection  to  this  view,  we  may 
consider  it  as  at  least  highly  probable.  And  how  imposing,  in 
that  case,  must  have  been  the  scenes  here  witnessed !  Erom  the 
city  itself,  which  lay  always  where  its  modern  representative  hes 
now,  on  the  lower  eminence,  the  Gibeonites  'hewed  the  wood' 
of  the  adjacent  valley,  and  '  drew  the  water'  from  the  springs 
and  tanks  with  which  its  immediate  neighbourhood  abounds,  and 
carried  them  up  to  the  sacred  tent ;  and  there  attended  the  '  altar 
of  the  Lord,'  which,  from  its  proud  elevation,  overlooked  the 
wide  domain  of  Israel.^ 

That  the  Israelites  were  bound  to  observe  their  engagement 
with  the  Gibeonites,  appears  from  the  fact  that  there  was  famine 
in  the  days  of  David  three  years,  year  after  year,  and  that  when 
David  inquired  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord  answered  and  said,  '  It  is 
for  Saul,  and  for  his  bloody  house,  because  he  slew  the  Gibeonites.' 
We  have  no  account  of  Saul's  doing  this  in  the  history  of  his 
reigu ;  but  it  appears  that,  in  his  zeal  for  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  perhaps  with  a  view  of  taking  possession  of  the  landed  pro- 

1  1  Chron.  xvi.  39,  40,  and  see  2  Chron.  i.  3,  4.  ^  1  Kings  ii.  28. 

'  1  Ivincrs  iii.  5-13.  ,   *  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  214. 


134  THE  GIBEONITES. 

perty  of  the  Gibeonites,  he  slew  a  considerable  number  of  them, 
and  devised  a  general  massacre  of  the  rest.  It  was  a  cruel,  un- 
just, and  daring  act,  and,  as  yet,  it  had  not  been  avenged  upon 
his  house.  David,  therefore,  called  the  Gibeonites,  and  said, 
'What  shall  I  do  for  you?  and  wherewith  shall  I  make  the 
atonement,  that  ye  may  bless  the  inheritance  of  the  Lord?' 
They  might  have  accepted  a  fine  of  the  house  of  Saul,  but  they 
had  a  right  to  demand  blood  for  blood ;  and  their  request  was, 
that  seven  of  Saul's  sons  should  be  delivered  up  to  them  to  be 
slain  ;  and  David  said,  'I  will  give  them.'  It  is  not  improbable 
that  these  persons  had  participated  in  their  father's  crime,  for, 
according  to  the  Mosaic  law,  the  children  were  not  to  be  put  to 
death  for  their  father's  sin;  and  from  the  expression,  'Saul  and 
his  bloody  house,'  we  should  infer  that  his  family  was  a  wicked 
one,  and  deserved  to  die.  Jonathan,  the  best  of  them,  and 
David's  friend,  had  been  already  slain,  and  for  his  sake  David 
spared  Mephibosheth  his  son ;  but  the  two  sons  of  Aiah,  whom 
she  bare  unto  Saul,  and  the  five  sons  of  Michal  the  daughter  of 
Saul,  and  therefore  Saul's  grandsons,  he  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  Gibeonites,  Avho  first  slew  them,  and  then  hanged  them  in 
Gibeah  of  Saul,  where  they  remained  until  the  drought  ceased, 
and  '  water  dropped  upon  them  out  of  heaven.'^  The  Gibeonites, 
however,  were  no  doubt  reprehensible  in  allowing  the  bodies  to 
hang  so  long,  as  the  sight  of  them  would  be  highly  exasperating 
to  the  Israelites.  Yet  no  one  interfered,  save  one  lone  woman  ; 
and  all  that  she  could  do  was  to  sit  down  upon  the  rock,  on 
which  she  had  spread  a  piece  of  sackcloth,  and  there  protect  the 
bodies  from  the  birds  of  the  air  by  day,  and  the  beasts  of  the 
field  by  night.  Yes,  such  was  the  noble  conduct  of  Rizpah,  the 
daughter  of  Aiah,  and  the  mother  of  two  of  the  slain;  and  when 
David  heard  of  it  he  had  the  bodies  taken  down,  and,  together 
with  the  bones  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  his  son,  buried  in  Zelah,  in 

1  2  Sam.  xxi.  1-10. 


LESSONS.  135 

the  country  of  Benjamin.^  How  deep  and  tender  is  a  mother's 
love !  Who  does  not  admh-e  this  remarkable  display  of  it  ?  and 
who  can  help  sympathizing  with  the  sorrowing  Rizpah,  as  she 
sits  and  watches  these  corpses  dangling  in  the  air?  Poor 
woman !  and  could  she  defend  them  from  the  beasts  of  the  field  ? 
She  thought  she  could,  and  at  least  she  was  resolved  to  try. 

Of  the  Gibeonites  at  a  later  period  we  know  but  little.  One 
of  David's  mighty  men,  Ismaiah,  was  a  Gibeonite ;  so  also  was 
Melatiah,  who  assisted  Nehemiah  in  repairing  the  wall  of  Jerusa- 
lem after  the  captivity:  so  that  the  race  appears  to  have  been 
perpetuated  for  at  least  several  centuries,  and  did  not  become 
extinct  even  during  the  captivity  in  Babylon. 

Not  without  its  lessons  is  this  remarkable  episode ;  and  to 
some  of  these  we  have  adverted  in  the  preceding  pages.  The 
only  one  we  would  further  mention  is,  that  if,  to  save  their  lives, 
the  Gibeonites  would  submit  to  any  servitude,  and  stoop  to  the 
meanest  and  most  abject  labour,  we  surely  ought  to  be  willing 
to  accept  any  conditions  which  God  may  impose,  in  order  that 
we  may  save  our  souls  from  death ; — to  be  willing  to  sacrifice 
property,  ease,  rank,  honour,  or  whatever  else  we  may  possess, 
and  to  become  '  hewers  of  wood '  or  '  drawers  of  water '  in  the 
Church  of  Christ,  if  such  is  the  position  assigned  us,  counting  it 
a  privilege  to  have  any  place,  however  humble,  in  His  sanctuary, 
if  we  may  but  hope  to  be  admitted  hereafter  to  a  higher  sphere. 
And  many  whose  lot  in  this  life  is  comparatively  mean,  who  are 
now  little  better,  to  all  appearance,  than  menials  in  the  Church, 
will  doubtless,  if  they  are  faithful,  and  if  they  perform  their  work 
with  a  cheerful  and  ready  mind,  be  one  day  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  and  the  Father,  and  be  raised  to  the  noble  service  of 
the  temple  of  the  skies, 

»  2  Sam.  xxi.  10-13. 


VALLEY   OF  AJALON, 


CHAPTER   IX. 


THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 


iOSHUA  had  returned  to  Gilgal,  leaving  the  Gibeonites 

I 


^    in  quiet  possession  of  their  cities,  until  a  fitting  oppor- 


tunity should  occur  to  employ  them  in  the  services 
they  were  hereafter  to  fulfil,  when,  one  day,  their  ambassadors 
again  stood  before  him,  and,  with  deep  anxiety,  said,  '  Slack  not 
thy  hand  from  thy  servants;  come  up  to  us  quickly,  and  save 
us,  and  help  us :  for  all  the  kings  of  the  Amorites,  that  dwell  in 
the  mountains,  are  gathered  together  against  us ' — chap.  x.  6. 

And  such  was,  in  fact,  the  case.     Adoni-zedek,  the  king  of 
Jerusalem,  having  heard  that  Joshua  had   conquered  Ai,  and 


SALEM.  137 

that  the  Gibeonites  had  made  peace  with  the  invaders  of  the 
land,  was  greatly  alarmed ;  for  Gibeon  was  a  large  city,  and  its 
inhabitants  were  renowned  as  mighty  men.  He  probably,  and 
very  naturally,  thought  that,  if  a  royal  city  like  Gibeon,  whose 
people,  he  knew,  were  brave  and  courageous,  feared  so  much  the 
armies  of  the  Israelites  as  to  sue  for  a  dishonourable  peace, 
there  would  be  little  probability  of  his  being  able  to  defend 
himself  against  so  formidable  an  enemy;  and  that,  therefore, 
the  sooner  he  entered  upon  an  offensive  movement  the  better. 
But  what  could  he  do  ?  He  had  not  courage  to  go  and  offer 
battle,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  Israelites  themselves ;  but  he 
might  attack  the  Gibeonites,  who,  as  he  thought,  had  basely 
and  meanly  cringed  at  the  feet  of  Joshua,  and,  by  becoming  his 
allies,  had  shut  themselves  out  from  the  brotherhood  of  the 
surrounding  tribes.  Yet,  even  on  this  expedition,  he  was  afraid 
to  enter  alone;  and  he  therefore  'sent  unto  Hoham  king  of 
Hebron,  and  unto  Piram  king  of  Jarmuth,  and  unto  Japhia  king 
of  Lachish,  and  unto  Debir  king  of  Eglon,  saying,  Come  up 
unto  me,  and  help  me,  that  we  may  smite  Gibeon :  for  it  hath 
made  peace  with  Joshua,  and  with  the  children  of  Israel.' 

Canaan,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was,  at  this  time,  divided 
into  a  number  of  petty  states,  each  one  governed  by  its  own  inde- 
pendent king.  Five  of  these  are  here  mentioned.  Adoni-zedec, 
whose  name  signifies,  lord  of  righteousness  (equivalent  to  Melchi- 
zedec,  king  of  righteousness^),  was  the  king  of  the  Jebusites, 
whose  capital  was  Jerusalem,  and  whose  kings  were  so  called  just 
as  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  called  Pharaohs.^  The  most  ancient 
name  of  Jerusalem  was  Salem,  or  Shalem^  (P^.f)^  which  signifies 
peace ;  but  when  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Jebusites,  it 
was  called  Jebus,  or  Jebusi,^— that,  probably,  being  the  name  of 
the  third  son  of  Canaan.^     On  the  import  and  derivation  of  the 

1  Gen.  xiv.  18.        2  Comp.  Judges  i.  5.        ^  Gen.  xiv.  18 ;  Ps.  Ixxvi.  2. 
*  Judges  xix.  10,  11.  *  Gen.  x.  16. 


138  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

name  Jerusalem,  there  is  a  diversity  of  opinion :  Gesenius,  who 
is  followed  by  many,  says  it  signifies  '  the  foundation,'  or  « the 
house  of  peace;'  Hitzig,  'the  district  or  territory  of  Salem.* 
But  Hengstenberg  maintains  that  it  is  a  compound  of  t^llS 
possession,  and  nb\^,  peaceful,  and  signifies,  therefore,  *the 
peaceful  possession;'^  and  it  appears  to  have  received  this  name 
even  before  the  days  of  Joshua.  Its  situation,  says  Stanley,  '  is 
in  several  respects  singular  amongst  the  cities  of  Palestine.  Its 
elevation  is  remarkable,  occasioned,  not  from  its  being  on  the 
summit  of  one  of  the  numerous  hills  of  Judea,  like  most  of  the 
towns  and  villages,  but  because  it  is  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the 
highest  table-lands  of  the  country.  Hebron,  indeed,  is  higher 
still,  by  some  hundred  feet;  and  from  the  south,  accordingly, 
the  approach  to  Jerusalem  is  by  a  slight  descent.  But  from 
every  other  side  the  ascent  is  perpetual ;  and,  to  the  traveller 
approaching  Jerusalem  from  the  west  or  east,  it  must  always 
have  presented  the  appearance,  beyond  any  other  capital  of  the 
then  known  world — we  may  add,  beyond  any  important  city  that 
has  ever  existed  on  the  earth — of  a  mountain  city ;  breathing,  as 
compared  with  the  sultry  plains  of  the  Jordan,  or  of  the  coast, 
a  mountain  air ;  enthroned,  as  compared  with  Jericho  or  Da- 
mascus, Gazer  or  Tyre,  on  a  mountain  fastness.'^  Its  distance 
from  Gibeon  was  rather  more  than  five  Eoman  miles. 

Hebron,  of  which  Hoham  was  the  king,  was  a  celebrated 
city  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  and,  previous  to  its  capture 
by  the  Israelites,  was  called  Kirjath-arba,  or  the  city  of  Arba, 
the  father  of  the  Anakim.^  Like  the  modern  city,  el-Khulil — z.e., 
'  the  friend,'  so  called  from  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God — it  was 
situated  in  a  deep  valley,  twenty-two  Roman  miles  so.uth  of 
Jerusalem,  which,  in  the  present  day,  abounds  with  vineyards, 
the  grapes  of  which  are  the  finest  in  Palestine.    Jarmuth,  where 

*  Hengstenberg  on  the  Psalms,  vol.  ii.,  p.  436 ;  and  Keil  on  Joshua,  p.  245. 
'  *  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  168.  3  jogj^^  ^iv.  15,  xv.  13. 


ADONI-ZEDEC.  139 

Piram  reigned,  was  situated  in  the  lowland  country,  on  the  road 
between  Jerusalem  and  Eleutheropolis,  and  is  now  represented 
by  a  village  called  Yarnuk.  Lachish,  the  capital  of  Japhia's 
territory,  is  supposed  by  many,  though  Robinson  doubts  it,  to 
have  been  situated  on  a  site  now  called  Um-Lakis,  between 
Gaza  and  Beit-Jibrin,  thirty-eight  Roman  miles  distant  from 
Jerusalem.  And  Eglok  is  no  doubt  identical  with  Aiglan,  a 
heap  of  ruins  not  far  distant  from  Lachish. 

These  five  kings  dwelt,  then,  within  a  comparatively  small 
circle ;  and  hence  Adoni-zedec  would  be  able  to  communicate 
with  Hoham,  Piram,  Japhia,  and  Debir  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours.  And  this  was  his  request :  '  Come  up  with  your  forces,  and 
help  me  to  take  vengeance  on  the  Gibeonites,  who  have  made 
peace  with  our  enemies,  the  invaders  of  the  land.'  They  imme- 
diately complied ;  and  from  some  lofty  eminence  might  have  been 
seen  the  armies  of  these  kings  gathering  together  to  a  place  of 
rendezvous,  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  for  a  general  attack 
upon  their  former  friends.  It  was  a  melancholy  display  of  envy, 
malice,  and  revenge ;  yet,  heathens  as  they  were,  we  are  not 
surprised  that  they  should  engage  in  such  an  enterprise :  nor  is 
their  conduct  without  its  parallels  in  the  history  of  later  times. 
And  now,  what  could  the  Gibeonites  do  but  have  recourse  to 
Joshua?  They  had  a  claim  on  his  protection.  They  had  a 
right  to  expect  his  immediate  succour.  Nor  do  they  ask  for  it 
in  vain.  Generous  and  noble-minded  as  he  was,  he  could  not 
see  these  Gibeonites  attacked,  and  make  no  attempt  to  defend 
them.  At  once,  and  without  delay,  he  summoned  his  army ; 
and,  by  a  forced  march  from  Gilgal  '  all  night,'  arrived  '  sud- 
denly '  on  the  spot,  ere  the  allied  forces  had  time  to  commence 
their  attack  upon  the  city.  The  rapidity  of  his  movements  was  a 
proof  of  his  skilful  generalship.  To  delay,  at  such  a  moment, 
might  have  been  fatal  to  his  purpose;  and  therefore,  not  trusting 
to  the  superiority  of  his  forces,  nor  yet  to  any  miraculous  aid 


140  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

from  heaven,  Joshua  made  haste  and  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  the 
Gibeonites  with  the  utmost  speed. 

But  was  he  indeed  under  any  obligation  to  assist  them? 
Which  of  us  would  not  have  thought  Joshua  had  a  good  pre- 
tence for  his  forbearance,  and  have  said,  '  You  have  broken  j^our 
league  with  me :  why  do  ye  expect  help  from  him  whom  ye 
have  deceived  ?  All  that  we  promised  you  was  a  suflerance  to 
live ;  enjoy  what  we  promised,  we  will  not  take  your  life  from 
you.  Hath  your  faithfulness  deserved  to  expect  more  than  our 
covenant  ?  We  never  promised  to  hazard  our  lives  for  you ;  to 
give  you  life  with  the  loss  of  our  own.'  But  that  good  man 
durst  not  construe  his  own  covenant  to  such  an  advantage.  He 
knew  little  difference  between  killing  with  his  own  sword  and 
the  sword  of  an  Amorite :  whosoever  should  give  the  blow,  the 
murder  would  be  his.  Even  permission  in  those  things  we  may 
remedy  makes  us  no  less  actors  than  consent :  some  men  kill  as 
much  by  looking  on,  as  others  by  smiting.  We  are  guilty  of 
all  the  evil  we  might  have  hindered.^ 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  Joshua  felt  this  enterprise  to  be 
a  perilous  one,  and  that  he  set  out  with  no  little  anxiety  respect- 
ing the  result.  He  took  with  him  '  all  the  people  of  war,  and  all 
the  mighty  men  of  valour.'  Not  knowing  what  forces  the  allied 
kings  had  mustered,  or  what  was  the  military  character  of  their 
armies,  he  would  be  unable  to  judge  of  his  ability  to  conquer  them. 
But  it  was  in  no  arm  of  flesh  that  he  relied.  Whilst  he  em- 
ployed such  means  as  were  at  his  command,  he  placed  not  his 
confidence  in  them  alone,  but  trusted,  as  he  had  ever  done,  on 
the  arm  of  God.  And  if,  for  a  moment,  he  felt  any  fear,  that 
fear  was  ^oou  dispelled  by  the  repetition  of  the  divine  word, 
'Fear  them  not;'  and  by  the  promise  which  accompanied  it, 
'  I  have  delivered  them  into  thine  hand ;  there  shall  not  a  man 
of  them  stand  before  thee.'     It  was  a  seasonable  and  reanimating 

*  Bishop  Hall's  '  Contemplations,'  Book  ix.  1. 


THE  DISCOMFITURE.  141 

word ;  and  as  he  heard  it  the  courage  of  our  hero  would  be 
renewed,  and  he  would  rush  to  the  conflict  with  the  certainty  of 
complete  success. 

No  ordinary  commander,  however  skilful,  can  be  quite  sure 
of  the  victory.  His  forces  may  be  numerous,  and  his  soldiers 
brave ;  the  foes  he  has  to  encounter  in  the  field  may  have  already 
been  disheartened  by  losses  and  defeats,  and  he  may  appear  to 
possess  every  advantage  requisite  for  a  successful  battle  ;  yet 
such  are  the  chances  of  war,  that  some  minute  circumstance  or 
other,  wholly  unforeseen,  may  turn  the  tide  against  him  in  a  mo- 
ment, and  he  may  be  compelled  to  fly  from  before  the  face  of  his 
enemy.  But  Joshua's  victory  was  already  certain ;  and  so,  also, 
is  the  victory  of  every  soldier  of  the  cross :  for  God  has  said  to 
him  likewise,  '  Fear  not,'  and  has  given  him  the  promise  of  a 
glorious  triumph,  conditioned  only  on  his  fidelity  to  the  cause 
he  has  espoused. 

The  morning  dawns,  and  finds  Joshua  and  his  army  near  to 
Gibeon,  whilst  right  before  him  are  the  forces  of  the  allied  kings. 
Little,  perhaps,  did  those  kings  expect  that  the  Gibeonites  would 
obtain  such  succour,  or  they  would  not  have  ventured  on  their 
fooHsh  expedition ;  and  now  they  would  doubtless  have  returned 
if  possible;  but  their  doom  was  sealed,  and  nothing  remained  for 
them  but  to  defend  themselves  as  best  they  could.  How  feeble 
was  their  defence !  How  terrible  was  their  overthrow !  '  The 
Lord  discomfited  them  before  Israel,  and  slew  them  with  a  great 
slaughter  at  Gibeon,  and  chased  them  along  the  way  that  goeth  up 
to  Beth-horon,  and  smote  them  to  Azekah,  and  unto  Makkedah.' 
'  The  Lord  discomfited  them,'  and  yet  He  used  the  sword  of 
Joshua  for  the  purpose;  for,  as  Calvin  observes,  'Joshua  did 
not  abuse  the  divine  promise  by  making  it  an  excuse  for  sluggish- 
ness, but  felt  the  more  vehemently  influenced  after  he  was 
assured  of  a  happy  issue.  Many,  while  they  ostentatiously 
express   their  faith,   become   lazy  and  slothful  from  perverse 


142  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

security.  Joshua  hears  that  victory  is  at  hand,  and,  that  he 
may  gain  it,  runs  swiftly  to  the  battle.  For  he  knew  that  the 
happy  issue  was  revealed,  not  for  the  purpose  of  slackening  his 
pace  or  making  him  more  remiss,  but  of  making  him  exert 
himself  with  greater  zeal.  Hence  it  was  that  he  took  the 
enemy  by  surprise.' 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose,  as  some  have  done,  that  in 
the  tenth  verse  other  means  of  discomfiture,  not  particularly 
described,  are  alluded  to,  as  lightning  or  thunder  of  a  very 
terrible  kind.  An  attack  was,  doubtless,  made  by  Joshua,  and 
that  attack  was  signally  successful ;  but  its  success  depended  on 
the  special  aid  afforded  by  the  Lord  Jehovah,  who,  doubtless, 
animated  Joshua's  army  with  courage,  whilst  their  enemies  were 
seized  with  fear.  Hence  it  is  said,  'the  Lord  discomfited 
them  ;'  for  all  the  glory  of  the  victory  belonged  to  Him,  and  the 
Israelites  were  but  instruments  in  His  hand,  which  He  could 
as  well,  had  it  pleased  Him,  have  done  without. 

Ten  miles  distant  from  Gibeon  was  the  higher  Beth-horon — 
'  the  house  of  the  cavern ' — now  Beit  'Ur  el-Foka,  which  was 
separated  from  the  lower  Beth-horOn  by  a  pass,  called  both  the 
ascent  and  descent  of  Beth-horon,  leading  from  the  region  of 
Gibeon  (el-Jib)  down  to  the  western  plain.^  Dr  Robinson 
describes  the  ascent  as  very  rocky  and  rough ;  and  says,  that 
'  the  rock  has  been  cut  away  in  many  places,  and  the  path 
formed  into  steps,  showing  that  this  is  an  ancient  road,' 2 
Down  this  path  Joshua  chased  the  allied  armies,  and  smote 
them  until  they  reached  Azekah  and  Makkedah.  According 
to  1  Sam.  xvii.  1,  Azekah  was  near  to  Shochoh  (Shurveikeh) ; 
and  betw-een  these  two  places  was  Ephes-dammin,  which  Van 
de  Velde  indentifies  with  a  ruined  city  called  Khirbit  Damun, 
on  the  route   from   Beit-Jibrin   to   Jerusalem.      A  mile   and 

'  Comp.  Josh,  xviii.  13,  14 ;  1  Mace.  iii.  16,  24. 
^  Researches,  vol.  iii.,  p.  250-1. 


HAIL-STOEMS.  143 

a  half  north  of  Damiin,  he  found  a  village  on  a  hill-top 
called  Ahbek;  and  this  he  identifies  as  Azekah,  its  position 
answering  exactly  with  that  where  the  Onomasticon  places 
Azekah,  and  corresponding  perfectly  with  the  scriptural  require- 
ments.^ Makkedah  is  probably  identical  with  Summeil,  a  con- 
siderable village  on  an  elevation  in  the  plain,  about  two  hours 
and  a  half  north-west  of  Beit-Jibrin,  where  Yan  de  Velde  was 
assured  that  there  was  a  large  cavern,  though  he  himself  was 
unable  to  visit  it. 

Observe  the  progress  of  the  battle.  It  began  at  Gibeon, 
and,  at  the  first  onslaught,  the  alhed  armies  were  smitten  before 
the  Israehtes,  when,  seized  with  terror,  they  fled  precipitately 
towards  Beth-horon-the-upper.  Many  of  them  fell  by  the  sword, 
but  the  rest,  gaining  upon  their  pursuers,  rushed  madly  down 
the  pass  towards  Beth-horon-the-lower.  And  now  a  fearful 
storm  overtook  them;  for  the  Lord  cast  down  great  stones 
from  heaven  upon  them,  which  continued  to  fall  until  the  five 
kings  themselves,  with  a  few  others,  reached  Azekah  and  Mak- 
kedah, in  a  cave  in  which  latter  place  those  kings  sought  refuge, 
both  from  the  pitiless  storm  and  from  the  sword  of  Joshua. 
To  the  allied  kings  and  their  armies  it  was  a  terrible  day.  Many 
were  slain  by  the  hand  of  the  Israelites,  but  still  more  by  the 
hailstones  which  fell  upon  them  from  heaven ;  yet  these  did  no 
injury  to  their  pursuers,  nor  does  it  appear  that  Joshua  lost  in 
the  affray  a  single  man. 

Grotius,  Calmet,  and  other  commentators,  are  of  opinion  that 
actual  hail  could  hardly  have  killed  so  many  men,  and,  therefore, 
suppose  that  they  were  real  stones  that  fell  upon  these  armies 
and  destroyed  them.  Nor  is  the  supposition  beyond  probability, 
as,  not  only  have  single  stones  fallen  from  heaven  at  different 
periods  and  in  different  countries;  but  showers  of  stones  in 
considerable    quantities.     Many  remarkable  phenomena  of  this 

1  '  Memoir,'  p.  290. 


144  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

kind  are  well  authenticated ;  and  one  especially,  which  occurred 
at  Crema,  on  the  shores  of  the  Adda,  is  described,  says  Hum- 
boldt, 'with  especial  vivacity,  but  unfortunately  in  a  rhetorical  and 
vague  manner,  by  the  celebrated  Peterus  Martyr,  of  Anghiera/ 
'  On  the  plain  of  Crema,  where  never  before  was  seen  a  stone 
the  size  of  an  egg,  there  fell  pieces  of  rock  of  enormous  dimen- 
sions and  of  immense  weight.  It  is  said  that  ten  of  these  were 
found  weighing  a  hundred  pounds  each.  Birds,  sheep,  and  even 
fish,  were  killed.'  A  fall  of  stones  occurred  at  Benares,  in  Hin- 
dostan,  on  the  13th  of  December  1798;  another  at  Aigle  on  the 
26th  of  April  1803 ;  and  another  at  Braunau  on  the  14th  of 
July  1847,  when  the  stones  were  so  hot  that  after  six  hours  they 
could  not  be  touched  without  causing  a  burn.^  Some  have 
supposed  that  such  aerolites  are  concretions  formed  in  the 
atmosphere ;  others,  that  they  are  projected  from  volcanoes  in 
"ihe  moon,  which,  coming  within  the  sphere  of  the  earth's  attrac- 
ion,  necessarily  fall  upon  it.  But  the  latter  view  cannot  be 
correct,  as  these  aerolites  do  not  consist  of  lava,  but  of  iron, 
nickel,  copper,  zinc,  carbon,  and  several  other  elements.  Is 
there,  then,  in  the  regions  of  space,  an  inexhaustible  number  of 
bodies,  too  small  to  be  observed,  moving  round  the  sun,  the 
planets,  and  even  the  satellites  of  the  planets,  which  occasionally 
come  in  contact  with  our  atmosphere,  and  are  drawn  with  con- 
siderable velocity  to  the  earth  ?  Such  is  the  most  recent  view 
entertained  by  scientific  men,-  and  hence  the  destruction  of  the 
Amorites  might  have  been  effected  by  a  shower  of  real  stones 
from  heaven.  Still,  these  stones  are  said,  in  verse  11,  to  have 
been  hail-stones,  nnnri  '•jnx,  Sept.  \t6ovs  x^'^^Cv^^  and  such  they 
are  calle'd  by  Josephus,  and  nearly  all  the  commentators.     Hail- 

'  See  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  iv.,  p.  587 ;  Dr  Clarke's  Commentary ;  and 
the  Pictorial  Bible,  on  Joshua  x.,  where  other  instances  of  the  kind  are 
mentioned. 

^  See  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  i.,  p.  117.    Bohn. 


THE  VOICE  OF  GOD.  145 

storms  are  often  exceedingly  violent,  and  instances  are  on  record 
of  hail-stones  having  fallen  as  large  as  pigeons'  or  even  hens' 
eggs.  'The  masses  and  blocks  of  ice  which  have  not  unfre- 
quently  fallen,'  says  Mrs  Somerville,  'appear  to  have  been  formed 
of  hail-stones  of  large  size  frozen  together;'  and,  'when  large, 
true  hail  is  pear-shaped,  and  consists  of  a  nucleus  of  snow  coated 
with  ice,  and  sometimes  of  alternate  layers  of  snow  and  ice.' 
Such,  we  doubt  not,  was  the  nature  of  the  storm  which  fell  upon 
the  fugitives ;  and  though  it  did  not  transcend  the  laws  of  nature, 
yet,  like  the  hail  of  Egypt,  it  was  brought  about  by  the  mira- 
culous providence  of  God,  for  it  fell  with  tremendous  violence 
on  the  Amorites,  whilst  to  the  Israelites  it  did  no  harm.  The 
power  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  resistless.  Who  can  thunder 
with  a  voice  like  His  ?  Who  can  stand  before  His  cold  ?  '  The 
Lord  also  thundered  in  the  heavens,  and  the  Highest  gave  His 
voice ;  hail-stones  and  coals  of  fire.  Yea,  He  sent  out  His  arrows, 
and  scattered  them ;  and  He  shot  out  Hghtnings,  and  discomfited 
them.'  ^  Thus  did  He  discomfit  the  five  kings  and  their  armies ; 
and  thus,  at  a  later  period,  did  He  discomfit  the  Philistines: 
nor  is  He  ever  at  a  loss  for  means  whereby  to  deliver  His  own 
people,  and  to  destroy  the  foes  by  whom  they  are  assailed.^ 

In  a  celebrated  battle  fought  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  in 
A.D.  394,  a  violent  tempest,  such  as  is  often  felt  among  the  Alps, 
suddenly  arose  from  the  east,  which  blew  a  cloud  of  dust  into 
the  faces  of  the  enemy,  disordered  their  ranks,  wrested  their 
weapons  from  their  hands,  and  diverted  or  repelled  their  inef- 

1  Ps.  xviii.  13,  14. 

2  Of  a  hail-storm  and  its  effects,  which  occurred  at  Constantinople  in  the 
summer  of  1831,  a  most  graphic  account  is  quoted  by  Dr  Kitto  in  the  Pictorial 
Bible,  from  Commodore  Porter,  who  says  that  large  balls  of  ice  fell  from  the 
heavens,  which  broke  the  tiles  on  the  houses,  shattered  the  windows,  desolated 
the  vineyards,  killed  two  boatmen  and  wounded  others,  and  that  several  pieces 
of  ice  weighed  three- quarters  of  a  pound,  and  some  a  pound  each.  See  also 
Kitto's  '  Daily  Readings,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  293 ;  and  Bush  on  Joshua,  in  loco. 

k 


146  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

fectual  javelins,  whilst  the  army  of  Theodosius  was  sheltered  by 
their  position  from  the  impetuosity  of  the  wind.  The  event  was 
looked  upon  as  a  special  interference  of  Divine  Providence  on 
the  Emperor's  behalf;  it  was  celebrated  in  verse  by  the  poet 
Claudian,  and  Ambrose  compared  it  to  the  miraculous  victories 
of  Moses  and  of  Joshua.  That  the  hand  of  God  was  in  that 
storm  we  do  not  doubt,  but  we  should  by  no  means  be  disposed 
to  attribute  it  to  any  very  special  agency  of  Providence;  nor  can 
we  think,  for  a  moment,  of  placing  it  in  the  same  category  as  the 
storm  which  destroyed  the  enemies  of  the  Israelites.  Par  more 
evidently  providential  was  the  storm  which  shattered  many  of  the 
ships  of  the  Spanish  Armada  as  they  approached  the  shores  of 
Britain ;  but  neither  was  that  event  miraculous,  but  simply  the 
employment  of  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature  to  defeat  an  object 
which,  had  it  been  successful,  would  have  changed  perhaps  the 
destinies  of  Europe  and  of  the  world.  All  nature  is  under  God's 
control,  and,  either  by  a  temporary  suspension  of  those  laws,  or 
by  a  special  guidance  and  direction  of  them,  He  can  render  them 
tributary  to  His  own  extraordinary  purposes,  whenever  He  has 
such  purposes  to  fulfil. 

But  we  must  resume  the  narrative,  for  it  records  an  event 
far  more  extraordinary  than  the  hail-storm,  and  one  which,  as- 
suming its  literality,  transcended  every  law  of  nature  with  which 
we  are  acquainted,  even  after  all  the  discoveries  that  modern 
science  has  opened  to  our  view.  '  Then  spake  Joshua  to  the 
Lord,  in  the  day  when  the  Lord  delivered  up  the  Amorites  be- 
fore the  children  of  Israel,  and  he  said  hi  the  sight  of  Israel,  Sun, 
stand  thou  still  upon  Gibeou ;  and  thou.  Moon,  in  the  valley  of 
Ajalon.  And  the  sun  stood  still,  and  the  moon  stayed,  until  the 
people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their  enemies.  Is  not  this 
written  in  the  book  of  Jasher  ?  So  the  sun  stood  still  in  the 
midst  of  heaven,  and  hasted  not  to  go  down  about  a  whole  day. 
And  there  was  no  day  like  that  before  it  or  after  it,  that  the 


THE  COMMAND  OF  JOSHUA.  147 

Lord  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  a  man :  for  the  Lord  fought  for 
Israel.  And  Joshua  returned,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  unto  the 
camp  to  Gilgal,' — vers.  12-15. 

Now,  is  this  the  record  of  an  actual  fact  ?  or  is  it  a  poetical 
adornment  of  the  narrative  of  the  battle,  designed  to  celebrate 
the  greatness  of  Joshua  1  So  long  as  the  Ptolemaic  system  of 
astronomy,  which  represented  the  earth  as  the  centre  of  our 
system,  and  the  sun  and  all  the  planets  as  revolving  round  it, 
held  sway,  no  doubt  was  entertained  on  this  subject ;  but  it  was 
believed  that  the  sun  and  moon  did  actually  stand  still,  as  the 
text  taken  literally  declares,  and  this  passage  in  sacred  history 
was  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  grand  stumbling-blocks  in  the 
way  of  the  reception  of  the  Copernican  system,  which  is  now 
universally  admitted  to  be  the  true  one.  But  in  the  hght  of  the 
modern  astronomy,  the  difficulties  that  present  themselves  are 
neither  few  nor  small ;  and  hence  the  whole  subject  demands 
the  most  careful  consideration. 

Now,  it  is  expressly  stated  in  the  text,  that  the  account  of 
the  miracle  is  '  written  in  the  book  of  Jasher ;'  and  we  have 
first,  therefore,  to  inquire  into  the  character  of  this  book,  and 
whether  it  was  a  book  of  authentic  history.  We  know,  how- 
ever, but  little  about  it ;  for  it  is  mentioned  but  in  one  other 
place  in  the  Scriptures,  viz.,  2  Sam.  i.  18  :  '  Also  he  bade  them 
teach  the  children  of  Judah  the  use  of  the  bow :  behold,  it  is 
written  in  the  book  of  Jasher.'  But,  from  its  title — Sepher 
Hayyashar,  nti^»n  "I2p,  which,  according  to  the  best  authorities, 
signifies  '  the  Book  of  the  Just' — it  was,  '  in  all  probability,  a 
collection  of  odes  in  honour  of  theocratic  heroes,  to  which  fresh 
contributions  were  made  at  different  times;'  so  that  it  may 
have  existed  prior  to  the  days  of  Joshua,  and  may  have  con- 
tained songs  in  honour  of  the  patriarchs  and  of  Moses,  to  which 
this  song,  if  song  it  may  be  called,  was  added  in  honour  of 
Joshua  ;  and,  at  a  later  period,  the  elegy  of  David  on  the  death 


148  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

of  Jonathan.  Josephus  makes  no  mention  of  the  book  of  Jasher ; 
but  he  is  supposed,  by  some,  to  allude  to  it,  where  he  appeals  to 
certain  '  books  laid  up  in  the  temple '  for  confirmation  of  the 
fact,  that  '  the  day  was  lengthened  at  this  time  longer  than 
ordinary.'^ 

Is,  then,  the  whole  of  the  passage — verses  12  to  15 — a  quota- 
tion from  this  book  ?  or  does  the  quotation  end  with  the  words, 
'  Is  not  this  written  in  the  book  of  Jasher  ? '  The  latter  view  is 
maintained  by  most  authorities ;  but  Keil  advocates  the  former, 
especially  on  the  ground  that  verse  15  seems  otherwise  out  of 
place ;  for,  that  Joshua  returned  into  the  camp  to  Gilgal  prior 
to  the  slaughter  of  the  five  kings  at  Makkedah,  cannot  be  sup- 
posed.^ But,  whichever  view  is  the  correct  one,  the  question 
necessarily  arises.  Does  the  passage  thus  quoted  record  a  simple 
historical  truth  ?  or  did  the  writer  merely  intend  to  express,  in 
highly  imaginative  terms,  the  fact  that  Joshua  uttered  the  wish 
that  the  day  might  not  end  until  the  defeat  of  the  enemy  was 
complete  ?  Certainly  the  entire  passage  is  not  poetical.  All  that 
can  be  considered  poetry  is  the  following  : — 

'  Sun,  stand  thou  still  upon  Gibeon  ; 
And  tliou,  Mood,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon. 
And  the  sun  stood  still. 
And  the  moon  stayed, 
Until  the  people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their  enemies. 

What  follows  is  pure  prose,  like  the  termination  of  the  song 

*  Antiq  ,  vol.  i.,  p.  17.  The  views  of  the  Talmudists  and  others  respecting 
the  book  of  Jasher,  will  be  found  in  Smithes  Dictionaiy  of  the  Bible,  Art. 
'  Jasher ;'  and  in  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  iv.,  p.  741,  etc.,  eleventh  edit.,  a 
minute  account  is  given  of  a  spurious  book,  called  the  book  of  Jasher,  an  Eng- 
lish edition  of  which  was  printed  at  Bristol  in  the  year  1829.  Of  Dr  Donaldson's 
.'  Book  of  Jasher,'  which  is  a  mere  compilation  of  its  author's,  to  which  he  Avas 
pleased  to  give  that  title,  nothing  need  be  said,  except  that  it  attracted  far  more 
attention  than  it  deserved. 

'  The  verse  is  arbitrarily  omitted  by  the  LXX. ;  others  would  fain  alter 
the  text. 


THE  MODERN  ASTRONOMY.  149 

of  Moses — Exod.  xv.  19 ;  and,  according  to  some  critics,  may 
be  thus  rendered  :  '  Is  it  not  written  in  the  Sephar  Haiashar  ? 
So  the  sun  stood  still  midway  in  the  heavens,  and  tarried  to  go 
down,  as  if  he  had  tarried  the  entire  day.'  There  must,  then, 
have  been  some  ground  for  the  insertion  of  the  passage  into  the 
book  of  Joshua,  and,  indeed,  for  the  origin  of  the  passage  itself. 
What  was  that  ground  ?  an  ordinary  event,  or  a  miraculous  one  ? 
That  the  sun  and  moon  literally  stood  still,  as  the  early  fathers 
of  the  Church,  and  even  many  later  ones  maintained,  cannot  be 
supposed ;  but  Joshua,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  modern  system 
of  astronomy,  spoke  after  the  manner  of  men,  and  indeed  after  the 
manner  in  which  we  ourselves  speak  to  this  day.  Had  he  spoken 
otherwise,  he  would  not  have  been  understood ;  for  it  was,  no 
doubt,  the  universal  belief,  at  that  time,  that  the  apparent  motion 
of  the  sun  is  a  real  one — that  it  literally  performs  a  journey  round 
the  earth  in  four-and-twenty  hours.  But  was  the  earth,  by 
whose  diurnal  motion  on  its  axis  the  phenomena  of  day  and 
night  are  really  caused,  arrested  in  its  course  ?  and  was  it  by 
this  means  that  the  light  of  the  sun  continued  to  shine  upon  the 
field  of  battle?  Such  is  the  opinion  of  not  a  few;  and  one 
popular  commentator,  Dr  A.  Clarke,  maintains  that  the  sun's 
rotation  on  its  own  axis  is  in  part  the  cause  of  the  daily  revolu- 
tion of  the  earth,  that  Joshua  said  to  the  sun,  '  Be  silent,  re- 
strain thy  influence,'  that  the  sun  ceased  to  revolve  round  its 
axis,  and  that,  therefore,  the  earth  did  the  same!  Whether  such 
an  explanation  of  the  case  will  satisfy  any  inquiring  mind,  we 
know  not ;  it  certainly  does  not  satisfy  ours.  We  believe  that, 
were  the  earth's  diurnal  motion  to  be  stopped,  even  for  a  moment, 
the  utmost  confusion  would  ensue  upon  its  surface ;  whilst,  at  the 
same  time,  the  whole  of  the  planetary  system  would  be  thrown 
into  disorder.  Doubtless  the  power  of  God  could  prevent  this 
if  He  chose.  '  We  are  not  even  perplexed,'  says  Keil,  '  by  the 
difficulty  that,  if  the  earth  was  thus  suddenly  stopped  in  its 


1 50  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

rotation  upon  its  axis,  all  the  work  of  men's  hands  which  existed 
anywhere  upon  its  surface  would  be  destroyed,  and  the  earth 
itself,  with  its  satellite  the  moon,  would  be  thrown  out  of  its 
orbit;  for  we  know  that  the  almighty  hand  of  God,  which  not 
only  first  created  the  stars,  and  so  arranged  them  that  they  move 
with  unvaried  regularity  in  their  orbits,  but  which  continues  to 
move,  preserve,  and  govern  all  things  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
would  not  be  too  weak  to  ward  off  any  such  disastrous  conse- 
quences.' But  in  this  case  how  stupendous  a  miracle  it  must 
have  been!  All  the  miracles  of  Moses  were  as  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  it.  Before  it,  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  the  passage  of 
the  Red  Sea,  and  the  drying  up  of  the  Jordan,  sink  into  the 
shade.  And  yet,  whilst  these  miracles  are  repeatedly  referred  to 
in  subsequent  portions  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  not  the  slightest 
allusion  is  anywhere  made  to  this,  either  in  the  Old  Testament 
or  the  New.-"-  Besides  which,  can  we  suppose  it  probable  that, 
for  an  end  so  inadequate  as  the  routing  of  an  army  already  con- 
quered, God  would  in  such  a  way  interfere  with  the  general  laws 
by  which  the  universe  is  sustained  ?  Is  He  so  lavish  of  miracles 
as  this  supposes?  Have  not  miracles,  when  wrought  at  all, 
been  wrought  for  some  grand  and  lasting  purpose  ? 

These  objections  apply,  though  with  considerably  less  force, 
to  another  conjecture — that  the  sun's  course  was  retarded  by 
means  of  refraction,  or  that  its  disc  appeared  above  the  horizon 
long  after  it  had  actually  set.  '  We  must  explain  the  miracle 
thus,'  says  Peyrerius,  as  quoted  by  Keil:  'when  the  sun  had 
already  set,  without  any  change  in  the  celestial  and  natural 
order  of  things,  the  light  of  the  sun,  but  not  the  sun  itself,  by  a 
very  great'miracle,  continued  in  the  atmosphere,  or  in  the  region 

'  The  miracle  is  mentioned  by  an  Apocryphal  -writer,  Jesus  the  son  of  Sirach, 
xlvi.  4;  but  the  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  which  have  been  adduced  as 
favouring  it— Isa.  xxviii.  21 ;  Hab.  iii.  11 ;  Ps.  xviii.—  do  no  such  thing,  though 
the  first  docs  refer  both  to  the  battle  and  the  victory.  See  the  'Journal  of 
Sacred  Literature,'  October  1850,  p.  4C(5,  etc. 


WAS  THERE  A  MIRACLE  ?  151 

of  vapour  which  was  in  the  midst  of  the  sky  and  the  air,  aboye 
the  city  of  Gibeon.  The  sunshine,  however,  fell  upon  the  city 
of  the  Gibeonites  in  such  a  way,  that  the  reflected  rays  lighted 
up  the  neighbouring  valleys  on  all  sides,  and  thus  prevented 
the  Amorites,  who  were  routed  and  flying,  from  escaping  the 
pursuit  of  Joshua,  which,  in  fact,  was  the  design  of  the  miracle.' 
This  is  the  explanation,  variously  modified,  of  Grotius,  Jahn, 
Benj,  Spinoza,  Bush,  Bishop  Gleig,  and  others;  and  Gleig 
renders  the  words  of  Joshua,  'Solar  light,  remain  thou  upon 
Gibeon;  and  be  thou,  moon,  stayed,  or  supported  over  the  valley 
of  Ajalon.'  '  To  the  apprehension  of  the  Israelites,'  says  Dr 
Kitto,  '  this  would  have  all  the  effect  of  staying  the  career  of 
the  sun,  and  to  ours  that  of  arresting  the  earth's  revolution  on 
its  axis ;  and  this  is  all  that  the  sacred  text  requires — all  that 
Joshua  required — all  that  we  need  require.'^ 

Not  so,  however,  thinks  Keil,  the  latest  and  the  ablest  com- 
mentator on  Joshua,  and  by  no  means  of  the  rationahst  school 
of  interpreters.  He  enters  into  a  careful  examination  of  the 
passage,  and  the  following  are  the  results  at  which  he  arrives : 
It  was  the  early  part  of  the  day,  and  during  the  engagement 
before  Gibeon  itself,  the  sun  and  the  moon  were  both  visible  in 
the  heavens — the  former  above  Gibeon,  the  latter  over  the  valley 
of  Ajalon ;  and  Joshua,  lifting  up  his  hand,  said,  in  the  sight  of 
Israel,  '  Sun,  wait  at  Gibeon ;  and  Moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon, 
till  the  people  avenge  themselves  on  their  enemies,' — not,  however, 
intending  to  express  a  desire  that  God  would  work  a  miracle, 
and  make  the  sun  and  moon  stand  still ;  but  simply  an  anxious 
wish  that  the  victory  should  be  decided  before  the  sun  went 
down.  And  decided  it  was ;  so  that  in  the  succeeding  words  the 
poet  announces  the  fact  that  the  sun  waited,  and  the  moon  stood 
still,  until  the  people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their  enemies. 
True,  it  is  said  in  verse  14,  that  '  there  was  no  day  like  that 

» 'Daily  Eeadings,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  295.     See  also  the  Pictorial  Bible,  in  loco. 


152?  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

before  it  or  after  it,  that  the  Lord  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  a 
man ;'  but  this  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  day  was  super- 
naturally  lengthened,  but  refers  only  to  the  miraculous  hailstorm 
by  which  '  the  Lord  fought  for  Israel.'  Truly  there  was  no  day 
like  that  before  it,  or  after  it  up  to  the  time  that  the  book  of 
Joshua  was  written;  for  whilst  the  miracles  of  Moses  were 
wrought  by  divine  command,  this — the  discomfiture  of  Israel's 
enemies  by  the  storm — was  wrought  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of 
Joshua. 

'  The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera,'  said  De- 
borah in  her  song ;  '  He  bowed  the  heavens,  and  came  down,  and 
darkness  was  under  His  feet,'  said  David  in  the  eighteenth  Psalm ; 
and  Isaiah  prayed  and  said,  '0  that  Thou  wouldst  rend  the 
heavens,  that  Thou  wouldst  come  down,  that  the  mountains  might 
flow  down  at  Thy  presence ! '  But  none  of  these  expressions  are 
to  be  interpreted  literally;  and  neither,  as  Keil  thinks,  is  the 
address  of  Joshua,  but  only  as  a  poetic  form  of  representing  the 
rapidity  of  his  victory  over  the  Amorites,  and  the  fact  that  he 
was  specially  and  remarkably  assisted  by  the  Lord  Jehovah.^ 

Such,  in  substance,  is  Keil's  interpretation  of  this  very  re- 
markable passage;  and  that  it  removes  a  difficulty  which  has 
long  been  felt,  especially  in  recent  times,  will  be  generally 
acknowledged.  Hence  it  has  met  with  favour  from  some  of  the 
most  eminent  writers  of  the  day  ;^  and  though  others  hesitate  to 
accept  it,2  they  evidently  feel  that  it  would  be  a  great  relief  to 
their  minds  to  do  so.  If,  however,  they  cannot  receive  it,  let 
them  at  least  be  charitable,  and  not  charge  those  who  do  with 
favouring  rationalism,  or  something  worse ;  for  surely,  on  a  ques- 
tion of  this  kind,  there  may  be  diversity  of  opinion,  without  any 

'  See  Keil  on  Joshua,  and  also  articles  by  J.  von  Gumpacli  in  the  'Journal 
of  Sacred  Literature'  for  January  1849  and  October  1850. 

'*  See  Ayre's  edition  of  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  ii.,  p.  620,  and  Rawlinson'a 
Bampion  Lecture,  p.  383. 

'  See  Lee  on  Inspiration,  p.  409,  note,  2d  edition. 


THE  VALLEY  OF  AJALON.  153 

injury  to  the  doctrine  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  I 
would  say  further,  that  if  the  idea  of  a  miracle  must  be  main- 
tained (and  I  do  not,  by  any  means,  assert  the  contrary),  the 
modus  operandi  must  be  left  unexplained ;  for  it  is  evident  that 
every  attempt  to  explain  it  hitherto  has  failed,  whilst  some  such 
attempts  appear  perfectly  ridiculous.^  Doubtless  God  has  means 
at  His  disposal  by  which  He  could  lengthen  a  day  for  several 
hours,  without  interfering  with  the  established  order  of  things; 
but  it  is  no  more  possible  for  us  to  explain  those  means,  than  it 
is  for  us  to  explain  the  means  by  which  Christ  multiplied  the 
loaves  and  fishes.  Leaning  to  the  side  of  Keil's  interpretation, 
I  nevertheless  hold,  that  if  it  were  positively  affirmed  that  the  day 
was  lengthened,  there  is  nothing  at  which  we  need  to  stumble 
here,  since  the  power  of  God  is  adequate  to  accomplish  whatever 
He  pleases  and  whatever  He  will. 

The  valley  of  Ajalon  was  so  called  from  a  city  of  that  name 
which  was  subsequently  given  to  the  tribe  of  Dan.  Dr  Robinson 
identifies  the  city  with  a  village  called  Yalo,  and  describes  the 
valley  to  the  north,  now  designated  Merj  Ibn  Omeir,  as  a  broad 
and  beautiful  valley  which  runs  out  west  by  north,  quite  through 
the  tract  of  hills,  and  then  bends  off  towards  the  great  western 
plain.2  Memorable  region  this  !  It  reminded  Judas  Maccabeus 
that  '  the  victory  of  battle  standeth  not  in  the  multitude  of  an 
host,  but  strength  which  cometh  from  heaven;'  and,  animated 
with  this  thought,  and  with  the  recollection  of  Joshua's  victory, 
he,  in  the  same  locality,  met  and  defeated  Seron  and  his  army, 
and  'pursued  them  from  the  going  down  of  Beth-horon  unto 
the  plain,  where  were  slain  about  eight  hundred  men  of  them ; 
and  the  residue  fled  into  the  land  of  the  Philistines.'^ 

'  See  Gausen's  '  Theopneustia,'  Baxter's  edition,  p.  192. 
'  '  Eesearches,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  253 ;   and  see  also   '  The  Land  and  the  Book,' 
pp.  533,  669. 

'  1  Mace.  iii.  19-24. 


154  THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS. 

In  the  chalk  and  limestone  cliffs  of  Palestine  there  are  many 
large  caverns,  some  excavated,  but  others  natural ;  and  in  one 
of  these,  at  Makkedah,  now  probably  either  Dhikkin  or  Siimeil, 
the  five  kings,  who  had  evaded  their  pursuers,  hid  themselves, 
with  the  hope  of  saving  their  lives.  But  it  was  a  forlorn  hope. 
Joshua  was  informed  that  they  were  there,  and  he  commanded 
great  stones  to  be  rolled  upon  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  men 
to  be  set  to  watch  it ;  and  when,  at  length,  he  had  smitten  the 
hindermost  of  his  enemies,  and  the  last  of  the  fugitives  fell  before 
the  sword,  he  and  all  the  people  returned  to  Makkedah  in  peace. 
And  now  the  mouth  of  the  cave  was  opened,  and  the  five  kings 
were  dragged  into  the  presence  of  the  conqueror.  No  quarter 
could  be  given  them,  for  they  had  been  the  leaders  of  the  expe- 
dition against  Gibeon ;  besides  which,  they,  like  the  rest  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Canaan,  were  under  the  ban  of  an  avenging  God. 
They  were,  therefore,  sentenced  to  be  slain ;  and  first,  in  the 
presence  of  '  all  the  men  of  Israel,'  Joshua  said  to  the  captains 
of  the  men  of  war,  '  Come  near,  put  your  feet  upon  the  necks  of 
these  kings,' — a  piece  of  barbarism,  some,  perhaps,  will  be  ready 
to  say ;  but  it  was  not  so,  but  only  a  symboUc  action  intended 
to  intimate  to  the  people  how  complete  should  be  the  subjection 
of  all  their  enemies.^  And,  indeed,  it  was  a  common  form  of 
expressing  victory  over  enemies,  as  the  sculptured  rocks  of 
Egypt,  Media,  and  other  countries  intimate.  'When,'  says  Mr 
Roberts,  in  his  'Oriental  Illustrations,'  'people  are  disputing, 
should  one  be  a  little  pressed,  and  the  other  begin  to  triumph, 
the  former  will  say,  "I  will  tread  upon  thy  neck,  and  after  that 
beat  thee."  A  low-caste  man  insulting  one  who  is  high,  is  sure 
to  hear  some  one  say  to  the  offended  individual,  "Put  yo.ur  feet 
on  his  neck." '  Such,  then,  was  the  treatment  of  these  five  kings, 
who  were  then  slain,  and  whose  bodies  were  afterwards  hung  on 
five  trees  until  the  evening.     They  were  then  cast  into  the  cave 

*  Comp.  Ps.  xviii.  40,  ex.  1. 


THE  FIVE  KINGS  SLAIN.  155 

in  which  they  had  been  hid,  and  thus  terminated  this  never-to- 
be-forgotten  conflict. 

'  So  let-Thine  enemies  perish,  O  Lord;  but  let  them  that  love 
Thee  be  as  the  sun  when  he  goeth  forth  in  his  might.'  '  This 
whole  history,'  says  Calvin,  '  holds  up  to  us,  as  in  a  mirror,  how, 
when  the  Lord  is  seated  on  His  tribunal,  all  worldly  splendour 
vanishes  before  Him,  and  the  glory  of  him  who  seemed  to  excel 
is  turned  by  His  judgment  into  the  greatest  disgrace.'  Joshua 
is  here  especially  a  type  of  the  true  Deliverer,  whose  foes, 
though  numerous,  shall  all  be  scattered ;  whose  enemies,  though 
mighty,  shall  lick  the  dust ;  who  still  goes  forth  conquering  and 
to  conquer,  and  who  shall  ultimately  wield  the  sceptre  of  justice 
and  of  mercy  over  all  the  kings  and  princes  of  the  earth.  Con- 
queror, not  of  Canaan  only,  but  of  the  world,  Christ  shall  reign 
from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth;  and  of  those  who  refused  to  submit  to  His  authority, 
He  will  say,  '  These  Mine  enemies,  that  would  not  that  I  should 
reign  over  them,  bring  hither,  and  slay  them  before  Me.' 


CHAPTER    X. 

FURTHER    VICTORIES, 


gHE  most  celebrated  military  commanders  have  generally 
'^T^MT'  ^^^^  distinguished  for  the  rapidity  of  their  movements. 
~~  '  They  have  not,  after  obtaining  a  signal  victory,  sat 
down  to  enjoy  repose  ;  but  they  have  taken  advantage  of  their 
position,  and,  as  quickly  as  possible,  pushed  forward  their  forces 
to  new  efforts  and  to  new  conquests,  until  their  latest  foes  have 
been  driven  from  the  field. 

But  never,  perhaps,  was  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  perse- 
verance more  signally  displayed  than  in  the  conduct  of  Joshua, 
the  son  of  Nun.  Six  cities  in  succession — Makkedah,  Libnah, 
Lachish,  Eglon,  Hebron,  and  Debir — were,  in  succession,  rapidly 


THE  COUNTRY  SMITTEN.  157 

besieged  and  taken,  and  all  their  inhabitants  smitten  by  the 
sword ;  for  '  Joshua  smote  all  the  country  of  the  hills,  and  of 
the  south,'  and  of  the  vale,  and  of  the  springs,  and  all  their 
kings  :  he  left  none  remaining,  but  utterly  destroyed  all  that 
breathed,  as  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  commanded' — chap.  x. 
28-40.  All  the  cities  here  named  were  situated  in  the  south  of 
Canaan ;  and  some  of  them,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  were  given 
to  the  Levites.  Makkedah  was  situated  in  the  plain,  and  is 
probably  identical  with  a  village  now  called  Sumeil,  two  and  a 
half  hours  north-west  of  Beit-Jibrin.  Libnah  is  identified  by 
Van  de  Yelde  with  the  Tell  of  Arak-el-Menshiyeh,  between 
Sumeil  and  TJm-Lakhis.  Lachish  is,  no  doubt,  represented  by 
the  latter  spot — Um-Lakhis — midway  between  Gaza  and  Beit- 
Jibrin.  Eglon  is  now  Ajlan,  '  a  low  mound,  with  a  few  scat- 
tered building  stones,  one  hour  east  of  Lachish.'  Hebron,  or 
Kirjath-arba,  now  el-Khulil,  was  the  well-known  city  in  which 
Abraham  dwelt ;  and  Debir  is  probably  identical  with  a  ruin 
called  Dibbeh,  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  two  hours  south-west  of 
Hebron.  All  the  cities,  then,  were  comparatively  contiguous,  so 
that  Joshua's  conquests  can  easily  be  conceived.  He  is  said  also 
to  have  defeated  and  slain  Horam,  king  of  Gezer,  who  came 
up  to  help  Lachish ;  but  it  is  nowhere  said  that  he  took  Gezer ; 
for,  in  fact,  it  was  too  far  out  of  his  way,  somewhere  near  the 
coast  towards  Ashdod.^ 

Of  the  five  kings  who  were  confederate  against  Joshua,  and 
whom  he  slew  at  Makkedah,  three  belonged  to  as  many  of  these 
cities, — to  Lachish,  Eglon,  and  Hebron  :  hence  •  the  kings  of 
Lachish  and  of  Eglon  are  not  here  mentioned  ;  but  of  the  kings 
of  Makkedah,  Libnah,  and  Debir,  it  is  said  that  he  did  unto 
them  as  he  had  done  unto  the  rest.  In  verse  37  the  king  of 
Hebron  is  spoken  of ;  but  the  words  may  have  been  interpolated, 
or  a  successor  to  the  former  king  may  be  referred  to  here. 
^  See,  on  all  these  places,  Vau  de  Velde's  Map  and  Memoir. 


158  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  in  this  expedition  Joshua 
depopulated  the  whole  territory.  He  did  not  search  out  the 
hiding-places  of  those  who  fled,  but  destroyed  only  those  who 
fell  in  his  way.  Hence  Hebron  and  Debir  were  at  a  later  period 
in  the  hands  of  the  Anakim,  who  were  driven  out  of  the  former 
by  Caleb,  and  out  of  the  latter  by  Othniel ;  ^  yet  he  smote  the 
country  from  Kadesh-barnea,  in  the  desert  of  Sin,^  even  unto 
Gaza,  the  most  southerly  city  of  the  Philistines,  and  all  the 
country  of  Goshen,  so  called  from  a  city  of  that  name  in  the 
same  neighbourhood,^  even  unto  Gibeon,  '  at  one  time,'  or  in 
one  campaign,  'because  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  fought  for 
Israel.' 

But  now,  Joshua  having  returned  unto  the  camp  to  Gilgal, 
another  confederacy  was  formed  against  him,  headed  by  Jabin, 
king  of  Hazor,  who  had  heard  of  these  things,  and  who  was, 
no  doubt,  considerably  alarmed.  Hazor  was  situated  in  the 
north  of  Canaan,  near  Lake  Merom,  and  was  '  the  head  of  all 
the  kingdoms '  in  that  part  of  the  country  ;  so  that  there  Jabin 
was  probably  what  Adoni-zedek  was  in  the  south — the  most 
prominent  and  influential  chieftain  of  the  neighbourhood.  And 
as  Adoni-zedek  headed  an  alliance  with  the  kings  in  his  vicinity, 
so  Jabin  sent  to  those  near  him,  to  the  king  of  Madon,  the 
king  of  Shimron,  the  king  of  Achshaph,  '  and  to  the  kings  that 
were  on  the  north  of  the  mountains,  and  of  the  plains  south  of 
Chinneroth,  and  in  the  valley,  and  in  the  borders  of  Dor  on  the 
west.'  Nay,  his  messages  went  further  still,  '  to  the  Canaanites, 
east  and  west ;  to  the  Amorite,  the  Perizzite,  and  the  Jebusite 
in  the  mountains,  and  to  the  Hivite  under  Hermon  in  the  land 
of  Mizpeh' — chap.  xi.  2,  3. 

Of  this  extensive  tract  of  country  it  may  be  well  to  take  a 
brief  survey,  that  we  may  be  the  better  able  to  form  a  concep- 
tion of  the  gathering  together,  from  so  many  quarters,  of  the 

1  See  chap.  xi.  21,  xiv.  12,  xv.  15-17.        -  Num.  xx.  14.        ^  chap.  xv.  51. 


HERMON.  159 

hosts  who  were  now  about  to  do  battle  with  the  Israelites. 
Beginning  at  the  north,  there  towers  before  us,  the  lofty  Her- 
mon,  or  the  Jebel-esh-Sheikh,  which  rises  to  the  height  of  ten 
thousand  feet  above  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  is  partially 
crowned  with  perpetual  snow,  which  lies  in  ravines,  and  pre- 
sents at  a  distance  the  appearance  of  radiant  stripes.  It  is  the 
most  southerly  point  of  the  chain  of  Anti-Libanus,  and  from  its 
south-eastern  base,  '  a  low  broad  spur  or  mountainous  tract 
runs  off  towards  the  south,  forming  the  high  land  which  shuts 
in  the  basin  and  lake  of  the  Huleh  on  the  east.'^  This  is  none 
other  than  '  the  land  of  Mizpeh,'  and  now  bears  the  name  of 
Jebel  Heish.  It  is  a  magnificent  country,  and  was,  in  all 
probability,  thickly  populated  in  the  days  of  Joshua,  even  as  it 
now  is  by  tribes  who  have  recently  been  at  deadly  war.  On  from 
this  region  southwards  to  the  plains  of  Chinneroth,  or  to  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  thence  far  away  to  the  west  on  the  heights  of  Dor, 
which  stood  upon  'the  great  sea'  below  the  promontory  of  Car- 
mel,  and  thence  eastward  over  the  mountain  and  across  the  plain 
of  Esdraelon  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan, — was  the  territory 
whence  Jabin  gathered  '  much  people,  even  as  the  sand  upon 
the  sea-shore  in  multitude,  with  horses  and  chariots  very  many.' 
The  sites  of  Madon,  Shimron,  and  Achshaph  are  unknown ;  but 
that  of  Hazor  is  identical,  according  to  Dr  Robinson,  with  a 
prominent  Tell  called  Khuraibeh,  a  little  north-west  of  the 
waters  of  Merom,  where  he  found  stones  which  had  apparently 
been  built  up  into  houses  at  different  epochs,  and  other  signs  of 
the  handiwork  of  man.  The  site  agrees  with  the  statement  of 
Josephus,  that  Hazor  was  situated  over  the  Lake  Samochonitis  ; 
and  it  equally  agrees  with  the  narrative  before  us,  as  the  capital 
of  Jabin  would  naturally  form  the  rallying  point  of  the  hosts  he 
mustered. 

Here,  then,  was  the  battle-field ;  for  '  when  all  these  kings  were 

^  Eobinson's  '  Eesearches,'  vol.  ii.,  437-439. 


160  FUETHER  VICTORIES. 

met  together,  tliey  came  and  pitched  together  at  the  waters  of 
Merom,  to  fight  against  Israel.'  This  was  the  Lake  Samochonitis, 
now  el-Huleh,  w^hich  is  about  four  or  five  miles  long,  and  nearly 
as  broad,  and  through  which  the  Jordan,  after  uniting  its  several 
branches  six  miles  northward,  runs  towards  the  sister  Lake  Gen- 
nesaret.  The  plain  and  marsh  above  it  are  about  ten  miles 
square ;  and  the  former,  being  sufficiently  dry  for  cultivation,  is 
the  great  granary  of  the  surrounding  country.^  '  On  the  east 
and  west  the  lake  is  bounded  by  mountain  slopes ;  and  it  was 
probably  on  the  rising  ground  on  the  western  side  that  the  allied 
kings  pitched  their  tents,  for  we  find  them,  in  verse  7,  above  the 
waters  of  Merom.' 

This  locality  was  an  ancient  battle-field ;  for  here  it  was  that 
Abraham  and  his  little  band  came  upon  the  forces  of  Chedor- 
jaomer  and  his  allies,  who  had  carried  away  captive  Lot  and 
his  family  from  the  vale  of  Sodom.  The  spoilers  were  utterly 
defeated,  and  Abraham  brought  back  all  that  they  had  taken, 
leaving  the  king  of  Elam  and  his  confederates  dead  upon  the 
field.^  It  now  becomes  the  scene  of  a  more  terrible  conflict. 
Yast  multitudes  are  here  gathered  together,  'even  as  the  sand 
that  is  upon  the  sea-shore  in  multitude,  with  horses  and  chariots 
very  many.'  Their  intention  is  to  proceed  towards  Gilgal,  and 
there  to  attack  the  camp  of  the  Israelites ;  but  Joshua  is  aware 
of  their  movements  and  designs,  and  resolves  not  to  wait  their 
coming,  but  to  act  on  the  offensive,  and  to  proceed  at  once 
towards  the  place  of  their  encampment. 

Several  days  must  have  been  occupied  in  the  movements  of 
the  armies ;  but  Joshua  stealthily  advanced  from  Gilgal  to  Lake 
Merom,  'and,  on  the  day  before  the  battle,  pitched  perhaps  in 
some  valley  where  the  enemy  did  not  observe  him.  And  here 
he  received  encouragement  to  proceed.  The  forces  he  was  about 
to  meet  were  more  formidable  than  any  he  had  yet  encountered, 

'  See  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  214.  '  Gen.  xiv.  1-14. 


THE  HOSTS  OF  JABIX.  161 

consisting  of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  chariots  of  iron ;  and,  as  the 
Israelites  had  no  cavalry,  it  required  extraordinary  courage  to 
do  battle  with  such  a  host.  The  Lord  therefore  said  unto 
Joshua,  *  Be  not  afraid  because  of  them ;  for  to-morrow,  about 
this  time,  will  I  deliver  them  up  all  slain  before  Israel :  thou  shalt 
hough  their  horses,  and  burn  their  chariots  with  fire.'  '/will 
dehver  them  up.'  What  is  it  that  Omnipotence  cannot  do? 
If  God  be  for  Joshua,  who  can  be  against  him  ?  If  Jehovah 
fight  for  Israel,  who  will  be  able  to  injure  or  molest  them?  Yet 
the  Israelites  were  not  to  be  mere  spectators  of  the  victory,  but 
were  to  attack  the  enemy,  to  render  their  horses  useless,  and  to 
destroy  their  chariots.  Moses  had  left  instructions  for  the  future 
king  of  Israel  that  he  should  not  multiply  horses  to  himself,^  lest 
he  should  be  led,  like  other  kings,  to  trust  in  horses  and  in 
chariots,  rather  than  in  the  living  God ;  '  it  was  necessary,  there- 
fore,* as  Calvin  observes,  *  to  render  the  horses  useless  for  war, 
by  cutting  their  sinews,  and  to  destroy  the  chariots,  in  order  that 
the  Israelites  might  not  become  accustomed  to  the  practices  of 
the  heathen.' 

The  morning  dawned,  and  suddenly,  ere  the  mighty  hosts  of 
Jabiu  had  time  to  get  ready  for  the  battle,  nay,  even  before 
they  were  aware  that  the  foe  they  were  intending  to  attack  was 
near  them,  Joshua  and  all  the  people  of  war  fell  upon  them, 
'  above  the  waters  of  Merom,  and  smote  them.'  '  The  mighty 
shout  strikes  terror  into  every  heart.  The  shock  is  irresistible. 
Jabin,  with  his  confederate  kings,  wakes  only  to  join  the  universal 
rout.  This  vast  theatre  of  plain  and  marsh,  and  valley  and 
mountain,  is  covered  with  fugitives  and  their  wild  pursuers. 
Those  whose  homes  lay  beyond  the  mountains,  to  the  north  and 
east,  sought  them  by  the  great  wady  of  the  Upper  Jordan, 
now  Wady  et-Teim,  or  out  east  of  Hermon,  in  the  Hauran,  the 
land  of  Mizpeh.     Those  from  the  sea-coast  of  Acre  and  Carmel 

*  Deut.  xvii.  16. 

I 


162  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

fled  over  those  hills,  and  down  south-west  by  Hazor  to  Misre- 
photh-raaim,  on  the  north  border  of  the  plain  of  Acre,  now  called 
Musheirifeh.  Thence  they  dispersed  to  their  homes  along  the 
sea-board  as  far  south  as  Dor. .  Joshua  himself  chased  a  third 
division  along  the  base  of  our  mountain  northward,  past  Abel- 
Beth  Maachah,  through  the  plain  of  Ijon,  down  the  tremendous 
gorge  of  the  Litany  to  the  ford  at  Tamrah,  or  the  bridge  at  the 
Khutroch,  and  thence  over  the  wooded  spurs  of  Jebel  Rihan 
toward  Great  Zidon,  behind  whose  lofty  walls  the  flying  host 
alone  could  find  safety.  Returning  southward,  he  recrossed  the 
Litany,  stormed  Hazor,  the  capital  of  king  Jabin,  and  utterly 
consumed  it  with  fire.' 

Such  is  Dr  Thomson's  vivid  description  of  the  victory,  but 
it  is  desirable  that  we  should  look  at  it  still  more  minutely. 
Brief  as  the  narrative  is,  it  is  remarkably  graphic  and  full  of  life. 
The  laws  of  modern  warfare  were  not  then  in  force ;  and  Joshua 
was  therefore  under  no  obhgation  to  wait  until  his  enemies  were 
prepared  to  meet  him,  but  might,  without  giving  them  a  moment's 
warning,  attack  them  suddenly  whilst  they  were  slumbering  in 
their  tents.  And  this  he  did.  There,  on  the  plains  east  of  the 
Lake  Merom,  lay  the  hosts  of  the  allied  kings,  like  grasshoppers 
for  multitude,  when,  with  the  heroism  of  one  who  knew  that  he 
had  Omnipotence  on  his  side,  Joshua  led  his  comparatively  small 
army,  perhaps  in  three  divisions,  into  the  very  heart  of  the  en- 
campment ;  and  such  was  the  shout  they  raised,  and  such  the 
force  of  their  attack,  that  the  foe  was  smitten  with  terror  and 
confusion,  and  every  man  sought  to  fly  with  all  the  speed  he 
could  command.  Thousands  probably  fell  at  the  very  first  on- 
slaught ;  and  thousands  more,  some  in  one  direction  and  some  in 
another,  fled  before  the  face  of  the  conquering  Israelites.  One 
portion  of  the  army  sought  refuge  towards  the  north-west,  and 
were  chased  by  their  enemies  unto  Great  Zidon,  thirty  miles  dis- 
tant, on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.     Zidon.  or  Sidon, 


THE  PHCENICIANS.  1G3 

was  then  the  metropolis  of  PhcEnicia,  and  therefore  designated 
Great ;  but,  at  a  later  period,  its  splendour  was  eclipsed  by  that 
of  Tyre,  which  then  became  the  first  of  Phoenician  cities.  Of 
Sidon  mention  is  made  in  Gen.  x.  19,  xlix.  13  ;  and  we  read  of  it 
in  Homer,  for  among  the  prizes  offered  to  the  racers  by  Achilles — 

'  First,  he  produced 
A  silver  goblet  of  six  measures :  earth 
Own'd  not  its  like  for  elegance  of  form ; 
Skilful  Sidonian  artists  had  around 
Embellish'd  it,  and  o'er  the  sable  deep 
Phoenician  merchants  into  Lemnos  port 
Had  borne,  and  the  boon  to  Thoas  given.' ^ 

Its  name  is  said  to  signify  '  fishing,'  or  '  a  fishery ; '  and  it  lay  on 
the  north-west  slope  of  a  small  promontory,  which  jutted  out 
obhquely  into  the  sea,  towards  the  south-west.  It  is  now  called 
Saida,  and  contains  a  population  of  seven  thousand  souls.^ 

But  was  Jabin,  then,  a  Phoenician,  or  were  any  of  the  vast 
multitudes  whom  he  had  gathered  together  Phoenicians  ?  It  is 
not  improbable  that  some  of  them  were ;  for,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  original  home  of  the  Phoenicians,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  they  were  descendants  of  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham.  They 
settled  along  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  from  Mount 
Lebanon  to  the  promontory  of  Carmel,  and  were  called  Phoenicians 
by  the  Greeks,  as  some  think,  from  the  fact  that  they  traded 
principally  in  purple  (cfioivos),  but,  as  others  suppose,  from  their 
sun-burnt  complexion,  the  word  <pohi^  signifying  a  red-brown 
colour.  No  mention  is  made  of  them,  under  this  name,  in  the 
Pentateuch ;  but  in  later  books  of  the  Bible  their  principal  cities 
are  often  spoken  of,  for  they  were  not  conquered  by  Joshua, 
but  continued  to  exist  as  an  independent  people,  were  in  friendly 
alliance  with   David   and   with   Solomon,  planted   colonies   in 

^  '  Iliad,'  Cowper's  trans.,  xxiii.  924. 

2  Bobinson's  '  Eesearches,'  ii.,  p.  478,  etc. ;  Kendrick's  '  Phoenicia,'  p.  17. 


164  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

Carthage  and  elsewhere,  and,  for  a  time,  were  the  most  poweiful 
rivals  and  enemies  of  Rome. 

Whether,  then,  there  were  any  Phcenicians  or  not  in  league 
with  Jabin,  the  victory  of  Joshua,  decisive  as  it  was,  did  not 
materially  affect  them.  It  is,  indeed,  related  by  Procopius, 
that  some  of  the  nations  of  Canaan,  on  their  expulsion  by  Joshua, 
fled  to  Northern  Africa;  and  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Tangiers  there  are  two  statues  of  white  stone,  engraved  with 
Phoenician  letters,  and  bearing  the  inscription,  '  We  are  they 
who  fled  from  the  face  of  the  robber  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun.* 
But,  though  the  genuineness  of  this  inscription  was  at  one  time 
admitted  by  several  eminent  scholars,  there  are,  we  believe,  but 
few  who  now  hold  this  to  be  a  correct  translation  of  the  inscrip- 
tion.^ '  Had  the  original  conquest  of  Canaan  by  the  Israelites, 
or  their  subsequent  wars,  given  them  possession  of  the  towns  of 
the  sea-coast,  we  might  have  expected,'  says  Mr  Kendrick,  Ho 
find  that  the  inhabitants,  availing  themselves  of  their  fleets,  had 
withdrawn  from  the  extermination  or  slavery  which  awaited 
them,  and  settled  in  foreign  countries.'  But  of  this  there  is  not 
the  slightest  evidence,  for  the  oldest  genuine  inscription  in  the 
Phoenician  character  is  not  earlier  than  the  fourth  century ;  and 
we  know  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  coast  country  were  not 
driven  out  of  the  land,  or  even  conquered,  either  by  Joshua  or 
by  the  kings  of  Israel. 

But  to  return  to  the  narrative.  A  second  portion  of  the 
alHed  forces  fled,  and  were  pursued  to  Misrephoth-maim, — a  word 
respecting  which  there  has  been  no. little  diversity  of  opinion. 
The  LXX.  took  it  as  a  proper  name ;  but  many  think  that  it 
signifies  burnings,  salt-pits,  glass-houses,  or  smelting-houses, — 
there  being  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Zidon  places  of  this  kind  in 
very  early  times.     Literally,  it  is  said  to  mean  '  burnings  by  the 

*  See  Ivendrick's  *  Phoenicia,'  p.  68.  Eawlinson,  however,  is  in  favour  of 
the  translation.     '  Bampton  Lectures '  for  1859,  pp.  381-2. 


MISREPHOTH-MAIM.  165 

waters ;'  and  it  may  refer  either  to  Zidonian  glass  factories,  to 
hot  springs,  or  simply  to  the  burning  of  Jabin's  chariots.  Dr 
Thomson,  -however,  in  the  passage  quoted  above,  supposes  it  to  be 
identical  with  a  place  now  called  Musheirifeh,  which  he  found  on 
the  north  border  of  the  plain  of  Acre.  '  This  Musheirifeh,'  he 
observes  elsewhere,  '  with  the  noble  fountains  at  the  base  of  the 
same  name,  I  am  disposed  to  identify  with  the  Misrephoth-maim 
(waters  of  Misrephoth)  to  which  that  part  of  the  Canaanitish 
host  which  came  from  Dor,  etc.,  fled  from  the  battle  of  Merom ; 
and  I  do  this  notwithstanding  the  contradictory  renderings  of 
these  words  in  the  margins  of  our  Bibles,  and  all  other  philological 
criticism  whatsoever.  The  ancient  and  modern  names  are  nearly 
identical  in  form,  and,  I  beUeve,  in  signification,  and  both  were 
suggested  by  the  bright  and  glowing  colour  of  those  magnificent 
cliffs  which  overhang  the  sea ;  and  any  one  who  will  study  the 
route  which  the  division  of  Jabin's  army  that  came  from  Dor 
must  have  taken  to  escape  Joshua's  troops  and  reach  home,  will 
see  that  this  is  the  spot  where  they  would  most  likely  first  find 
a  safe  and  convenient  halting-place  on  the  shore.  The  difficult 
pass,  commanded  by  a  castle,  where  the  present  bay  stands, 
would  be  an  effectual  barrier  against  their  enemies,  and  the 
plain  below,  in  possession  of  Achzib,  which  the  Jews  did  not 
subdue,  would  afford  a  delightful  place  for  them  to  refresh 
themselves  after  the  fatigue  of  that  disastrous  day.'^ 

It  is  gratifying  to  meet  with  such  identifications ;  and,  with 
Dr  Thomson,  we  say,  'Let  Musheirifeh,  therefore,  stand  for 
Misrephoth.'  But  if  this  be  the  case,  then  how  much  more  is 
wrapped  up  in  the  brief  narrative  of  the  flight  than  at  first  ap- 
pears !  Whilst  one  part  of  the  discomfited  allies  fled,  as  we  have 
seen,  nearly  due  north,  to  Zidon,  another  fled,  almost  due  west,  to 
Misrephoth  or  Musheirifeh,  which  was  situated  at  the  distance 
of  an  hour  from  Achzib,  the  ancient  Zib,  and  lies  on  the  coast 

»  '  Land  and  the  Book,'  pp.  303-4  ;  comp.  Van  de  Velde's  '  Memoir,'  p.  335. 


166  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

north  of  the  Bay  of  Acre.  These  had  come  from  this  part  of 
the  coast ;  and  whither,  when  tliey  were  defeated,  should  they 
fly  but  to  their  homes  ?  Even  in  the  confusion  which  resulted 
from  the  attack  of  Joshua,  they  would  instinctively  turn  to- 
wards that  part  of  the  country  in  which  their  own  habitations 
lay ;  and,  instead  of  following  those  who  fled  towards  Zidon, 
would  hasten  thither,  where  safety  would  appear  more  sure. 
Many  of  them  doubtless  succeeded  in  their  object :  nor  was 
this  part  of  the  coast  conquered  by  the  Israelites ;  for  though 
it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  it  is  said  in 
Judges  i.  27,  '  Neither  did  Manasseh  drive  out  the  inhabitants 
of  Beth-shean  and  her  towns,  nor  Taanach  and  her  towns,  nor 
the  inhabitants  of  Dor  and  her  towns,  nor  the  inhabitants  of 
Ibleam  and  her  towns,  nor  the  inhabitants  of  Megiddo  and 
her  towns :  but  the  Canaanites  would  dwell  in  that  land.' 
They  became,  however,  tributary  to  the  Israelites;  and  Solo- 
mon stationed  at  Dor  one  of  his  twelve  purveyors,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  provide  victuals  for  his  household,  each  man  his  month 
in  a  year.^ 

A  third  party  of  the  fugitives  took  another  direction,  and 
hastened  towards  '  the  valley  of  Mizpeh  eastward.'  The  word 
Mizpeh  signifies  '  a  watchtower,'  and  there  were  several  places 
which  bore  the  name ;  but  '  the  valley  of  Mizpeh'  here  mentioned 
lay  beyond  the  Wady  et-Teim,  in  the  Hauran,  east  of  Hermon. 
Of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt,  though  the  name  has  not  yet  been 
found  in  that  particular  locaHty.  It  is  an  extensive  and  richly 
watered  country,  and  probably  contained  in  the  days  of  Joshua 
a  very  considerable  population.  Thence  had  part  of  Jabin's 
forces  been  gathered,  and  thither  such  of  them  as  escaped  the 
sword,  belonging  to  this  neighbourhood,  fled.  Thus  from  the 
field  of  battle  were  these  warrior- clans  scattered,  northward, 
westward,  and  eastward,  whilst,  for  a  while,  the  Israehtes  pur- 

'  1  Ivincrs  iv.  7,  11. 


Joshua's  defeat  of  jabin.  167 

sued  them  in  three  divisions,  till  at  length  they  reached  their 
respective  fastnesses. 

A  more  decided  victory  Joshua  had  not  gained.  It  was  the 
death-blow  to  all  the  hopes  of  the  Canaanites.  It  settled  the 
question,  whose  shall  the  country  be  ?  And  from  the  pursuit  of 
the  fugitives  Joshua  turned  back,  smote  the  cities  of  these  kings, 
took  possession  of  the  cattle  and  the  spoil,  slew  all  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  set  Hazor,  Jabin's  capital,  on  fire.  The  other  cities 
he  did  not  burn,  but  left  them  '  standing  in  their  strength  ; '  but 
Hazor,  '  which  was  the  head  of  all  those  kingdoms,'  and  in  which 
Jabin  himself  had  taken  refuge,  he  did  not  spare,  and  the  king 
he  smote  with  the  sword.  It  was  a  terrible  retribution,  and  we 
dwell  on  these  details  not  without  pain  ;  but  we  deny  that  there 
was  any  injustice  in  Joshua's  proceedings,  for  he  was  but  the 
agent  of  Divine  Justice,  sent  to  chastise  a  people  whose  crimes 
had  long  insulted  Heaven  and  provoked  the  Majesty  on  high. 
Joshua  had  authority  for  what  he  did.  He  was  actuated,  not  by 
cruelty,  not  by  a  spirit  of  blood-thirstiness  and  revenge,  but  by 
a  stern  sense  of  duty ;  for  '  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  his 
servant,  so  did  Moses  command  Joshua,  and  so  did  Joshua :  he 
left  nothing  undone  of  all  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.' ^ 
Shall  we  then  condemn  him  ?  We  condemn  him  not.  He  was 
a  brave  soldier  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  and  only  did  what  he  was 
commanded  to  do,  mediately  through  Moses,  or  directly  by  God 
Himself. 

Of  Hazor  it  should  be  observed  that  it  was  probably  rebuilt ; 
and  we  read  of  another  Jabin  in  the  book  of  Judges,  who  was 
probably  a  successor  of  the  Jabin  of  our  narrative.  Highly 
important  was  the  position  of  Hazor  as  a  defence  against  the 
eastern  nations  ;  and  hence  Solomon  built  a  wall  round  it,  as  he 
did  round  Megiddo,  Gezer,  and  Jerusalem.     At  a  later  period 

1  Josh.  xi.  15 ;  comp.  Exod.  xxiii.  27-33 ;  Num.  xxxiii.  52 ;  Deut.  vii.  1, 
XX.  16. 


i  68  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

some  of  its  iuhabitants  were  carried  captives  to  Assyria  ;i  and, 
later  still,  Jonathan  Maccabeus  went  to  the  plain  of  Nazor  (Hazor) 
to  meet  Demetrius,  whom,  after  some  reverses,  he  put  to  flight.^ 

Joshua's  victory  over  Jabin  all  but  completed  the  conquest 
of  the  land,  and  verses  16  to  23  of  chap.  xi.  contain  a  review  of 
what  he  had  effected,  whilst  in  chap.  xii.  is  given  a  list  of  the 
names  of  the  kings  subdued  by  Moses  and  by  Joshua  on  both 
sides  of  the  Jordan.  '  A  long  time  did  Joshua  make  war  with 
all  those  kings,'  several  years  being  occupied  in  the  task  ;^  but 
'  he  took  all  that  land,  the  hills,  and  all  the  south  country,  and 
all  the  land  of  Goshen,  and  the  valley,  and  the  plain,  and  the 
mountain  of  Israel,  and  the  valley  of  the  same ;  even  from  the 
Mount  Halak,  that  goeth  up  to  Seir,  even  unto  Baal-gad  in 
the  valley  of  Lebanon,  under  Mount  Hermon' — chap.  xi.  16-23. 
First,  he  conquered  the  south  of  the  land,  as  related  in  chap. 
X.  1-42,  '  from  a  row  of  white  chffs,'  here  called  Mount  Halak, 
or  the  bald  mountain,  which  ascends  to  Mount  Seir  on  the 
south  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  thence  crosses  the  Arabah  or  great 
valley  which  Hes  between  that  sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Akabah;^ 
and  thence  his  conquests  extended  to  the  land  of  Goshen,  which 
probably  lay  on  the  coast  between  Gaza  and  Gibeon,  to  the 
valley  and  the  plain  beyond,  that  is,  the  line  of  coast  from  Joppa 
to  Mount  Carmel.  Secondly,  he  conquered  the  north  country  as 
far  as  Baal-gad  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon,  under  Mount  Hermon, 
which  Bitter  and  others  suppose  to  have  been  situated  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Hasbeiya,  on  the  southern  side  of  Jebel  esh- 
Sheikh,  but  which  Dr  Thomson  identifies  with  Baalbek,  much 
farther  north,  where  there  are  ruins  of  very  high  antiquity.'^ 

Thus  the  whole  land  lay  at  Joshua's  feet ;  for,  though  the  war 

»  2  Kings  XV.  29.  =  1  Mace.  xi.  67,  etc 

'  Josephus  saj-s  five  (Antiq.  v.  1.  19)  ;  the  Eabbins  say  seven. 

*  See  Keil  in  loco,  and  Eobinson's  '  Eesearches,'  vol.  ii.,  pp.  183-4. 

*  This  view  of  the  site  of  Baal-gad  is,  however,  very  doubtful. 


HARDENING  OF  THE  HEART.  109 

was  not  one  of  utter  extermination,  since  many  of  the  tribes  were 
still  permitted  to  remain  in  it,  yet  virtually  it  was  in  the  hands 
of  Israel,  dnd,  save  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeon,  not  a  city  made 
peace  with  them  or  sought  their  friendship.  This  is  surprising; 
but  the  explanation  is,  '■  It  was  of  the  Lord  to  harden  their 
hearts,  that  they  should  come  against  Israel  in  battle,  that  He 
might  destroy  them  utterly,  and  that  they  might  have  no  favour.' 
They  had  long  hardened  their  own  hearts,  and  now  their  hearts 
were  hardened  judicially  by  the  Lord  Jehovah  ;  and,  as  if  reck- 
less of  the  consequences,  they  rushed  forward  to  the  battle- 
field, and  met  their  fate.  Does  this  doctrine  of  the  obduration 
of  men's  hearts  seem  harsh  and  mysterious?  Let  it  be  ob- 
served that  it  does  not  imply  any  immediate  operation  of  the 
Divine  will  upon  the  human  mind,  but  simply  the  withholding 
from  men  those  gracious  influences  which  they  have  forfeited  by 
their  neglect  of  them,  so  that  they  are  left  to  themselves,  and 
therefore  become  more  obdurate  and  more  averse  to  good.  '  If 
a  ray  of  divine  light,'  says  Muller,  'has  fallen  upon  one,  he 
cannot,  as  many  would  like  to  do,  pass  away  from  it  with  quiet 
unconcern  and  indifference ;  but  if  he  closes  himself  up  against 
the  light,  he  becomes  driven  to  bitterness  and  wrath  against  it. 
In  relation  to  such  an  individual,  the  means  of  spiritual  heahng, 
the  efficacy  of  which  he  has  intentionally  destroyed,  not  merely 
loses  its  saving  power,  but  operates  in  a  directly  opposite  char- 
acter.' ^  Now,  the  Canaanites  had  had  the  light  of  nature  and 
of  conscience,  and  were,  therefore,  without  excuse;  but  that 
light  they  had  rejected,  that  light  they  had  repelled,  that  light 
they  had  wilfully  shut  out  from  their  minds.  Hence  the  hght 
itself  became  darkness,  and  God  gave  them  up  to  work  all  manner 
of  uncleanness  with  greediness,  until  at  length  the  measure  of 
their  iniquities  was  full,  and  justice  doomed  them  to  destruction. 
And  now  the  Israelites  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  of  ruin 

'  '  Doctriuc  of  Sin,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  468.     Clark. 


170  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

and  desolation,  upon  which  they  can  scarcely  have  looked  without 
sadness  and  distress.  Well  might  the  poet  of  the  'Christian 
Year '  put  into  their  lips  such  words  as  these, — 

Where  is  tlie  land  with  milk  aud  honey  flowing, 

The  promise  of  our  God,  our  fancy's  theme  ? 
Here  over  shattered  walls  dank  weeds  are  growing, 
And  blood  and  lire  have  run  in  mingled  stream : 
Like  oaks  and  cedars  all  around, 
The  giant  coi'ses  strew  the  ground. 
And  haughty  Jericho's  cloud-piercing  wall 
Lies  where  it  sank  at  Joshua's  trumpet  call. 

'  These  are  not  scenes  for  pastoral  dance  at  even, 
For  moonlight  ravings  in  the  fragrant  glades, 
Soft  slumbers  in  the  open  eye  of  heaven. 
And  all  the  listless  joy  of  summer  shades. 
"We  in  the  midst  of  ruins  live. 
Which  every  hour  dread  warning  give ; 
Nor  may  oiir  household  vine  or  fig-tree  hide 
The  broken  arches  of  old  Canaan's  pride.' 

But  other  tasks  were  now  before  them.  '  There  still  remained 
very  much  land  to  be  possessed'  (chap.  xiii.  1) ;  and  then  the 
whole  country  must  be  divided  and  assigned  to  the  different 
tribes,  as  Moses  had  commanded.  It  is  said,  indeed  (chap, 
xi.  23),  that  Joshua  took  '  the  whole  land,'  but  the  expression  is 
not  to  be  taken  in  its  full  and  literal  meaning ;  and  from  the 
first  it  was  God's  design  to  drive  out  the  Canaanites  '  by  little 
and  little,'  to  prevent  the  rapid  increase  of  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
field,  which  would  have  taken  place  had  the  country  been  at  once 
depopulated  of  all  its  original  inhabitants.^  '  Jehovah,'  says 
Havernick,  '  is  described  (in  the  books  of  Joshua)  as  giving  to 
the  Israelites  the  land  of  promise;  and  the  work  is  so  far  com- 
pleted by  Joshua,  that  he  is  able  to  portion  out  the  whole  land. 
This  does  not,  however,  place  the  Israelites  in  such  a  position 
that  they  have  nothing  more  to  do.   On  the  contrary,  the  strong- 

>  Deut.  vii.  22 ;  Exod.  xxiii.  29,  30. 


THE  TERRITOKY  NOT  CONQUEEED,  171 

holds  of  the  Cauaanites  are  to  serve  as  a  test  of  the  faith  even 
of  future  generations.  By  means  of  these  the  question  is  to  be 
decided,  whether  Israel  will  henceforth  continue  to  be  what  it  has 
been  under  the  command  of  Joshua.' 

What,  then,  had  been  done  ?  what  yet  remained  to  be  done  ? 
The  former  of  these  questions  has  been  already  answered ;  but 
chap  xii.  presents  us  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  victories 
achieved.  On  the  other  side  Jordan,  Moses  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  country  from  tbe  brook  Arnon,  now  the  Wady  Mudjib, 
to  Mount  Hermon,  and  all  the  plain  of  the  Jordan  on  the  east ; 
and  had  slain  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites,  and  Og  king  of 
Bashan,  and  given  their  lands  to  the  Beubenites,  the  Gadites, 
and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh  (vers.  1-6).  And  on  the  western 
side  of  the  river,  Joshua  had  smitten  thirty-one  kings,  a  catalogue 
of  whose  names  and  cities  is  given  (vers.  7-24),  though  some 
of  the  cities  were  not  taken  until  a  later  period.^  The  second 
question — what  remained  to  be  done  ?  or  what  portion  of  the 
land  was  not  yet  subdued? — is  answered  in  chap.  xiii.  2-6.  All 
the  borders  of  the  Philistines,  and  all  Geshuri,  which  lay  in 
the  desert  between  Palestine  and  Egypt,^  remained  to  be  con- 
quered. This  territory  reached  to  Sihor,  or  the  black  river,  sup- 
posed by  some  to  be  the  Nile,  but  which  was  no  doubt  the  brook 
which  flows  into  the  Red  Sea  near  Rhinocura,  called  elsewhere 
'the  waters  of  Egypt,' ^  and  now  the  Wady  el-Arish.  On  the 
north  it  extended  to  Ekron,  now  called  Akir,  a  village  of  con- 
siderable size  in  a  plain  north  of  the  Wady  Surar ;  and  it  em- 
braced the  cities  Gaza,  Ashdod,  Eshkalon,  and  Ekron,  with  the 
land  of  the  Gittites  and  the  Avites.  The  Avites,  however,  who 
were  no  doubt  Canaanites,  are  placed  by  the  LXX.  in  the  south 

^  On  the  alleged  discrepancies  in  this  chapter,  see  Keil,  whose  explanatioi:3 
will  satisfy  every  candid  mind. 

2  1  Sam.  xxvii.  8. 

3  Kuni.  sxxiv.  5  •  Josh.  xv.  4 ;  and  comp.  1  Chron.  xiii.  5. 


172  FURTHER  VICTORIES. 

of  Philistia ;  and  this  part  of  the  territory  remained  also  to  be 
conquered.  Then,  in  the  north-west,  there  remained  Mearah,  or 
the  cave  of  the  Sidonians,  and  thence  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
country  unto  Aphek  (now  Fik,  a  village  on  the  table-land  east 
of  the  lake  of  Gennesareth),  even  to  the  borders  of  the  Amorites. 
Farther,  there  was  Gebal,  the  country  of  the  Giblites,  or  hewers 
of  wood  and  stone,  now  Byblus,  north  of  Beirout,  and  all 
Lebanon  towards  the  sun-rising,  from  Baal-gad  even  to  Mount 
Hermon,  whose  snowy  peak  glitters  in  the  morning  rays,  and 
which  stands  at  the  entrance  of  Hamath,  the  river  of  which,  the 
Orontes,  rises  at  Lebweh,  etc.,  under  the  lofty  Lebanon,^ 

'  Whose  liead  in  wintry  grandeur  towers, 
And  whitens  with  eternal  sleet ; 
While  summer,  in  a  vale  of  flowers, 
Is  sleeping  rosy  at  his  feet.' 

Such  were  the  regions  which  were  not  yet  in  possession  of  the 
Israelites ;  but  Joshua  was  now  old  and  stricken  in  years,  and, 
therefore,  could  not  be  expected  to  survive  until  the  whole 
country  was  subdued.  He  had,  however,  done  enough  ;  and 
now  he  must  proceed  to  divide  the  land,  as  if  it  were  all  con- 
quered, and  to  assign  the  several  portions  of  it  to  the  different 
tribes,  leaving  those  who  came  after  him  to  contend  with  such 
of  the  inhabitants  as  might  oppose  them.  He  was  not  to  exempt 
from  the  division  even  the  unconquered  territory  ;  but,  believing 
that  God  would  give  it  to  His  people,  to  obey  His  commands 
v.'ithout  fear  of  disappointment,  inasmuch  as,  whatever  He 
promised  to  His  people,  He  was  able  to  perform.  And,  virtually 
at  least,  the  whole  country  did  ultimately  become  the  possession 
of  the  Israelites ;  for  the  kingdom  of  Solomon  embraced  the 
whole  country,  and  those  of  the  Canaanites  who  were  left  in  the 
land  he  laid  under  tribute  and  made  his  servants  (1  Kings  ix.  21). 

^  See  Robinson's  '  Researches,'  vol.  iii.,  p.  538,  etc  ;   '  Tlie  Land  and   the 
Book   p.  239. 


THE  DIVINE  PROMISES.  173 

We  have  thus  reached  a  period  in  the  history  of  Joshua,  which 
to  himself  must  have  been  one  of  joy  and  satisfaction.  Hitherto 
he  had  been  called  to  wield  the  sword,  and  now  he  was  to  lay  it 
aside,  and  to  take  up  in  its  stead  the  instruments  of  labour  and 
of  skill.  The  land  was  to  be  surveyed  ;  and  he  was  to  appoint, 
by  lot,  the  territory  of  each  tribe.  Three  of  the  tribes  had, 
however,  received  their  inheritance  on  the  other  side  Jordan; 
and  the  Levites  were  to  have  no  inheritance,  but  to  dwell  in 
cities  scattered  throuj^h  the  land.  For  eight  tribes,  therefore, 
and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  Joshua  had  now  to  make  pro- 
vision ;  and  to  this  task  he  set  himself  with  all  the  zeal  and 
generosity  of  a  real  patriot.  But,  first  of  all,  his  old  friend  and 
companion,  Caleb,  must  be  remembered  as  one  deserving:  of 
s])ecial  honour. 


HEBRON,  LOWER  POOLS. 


CHAPTER    XL 


THE   INHERITANCE    OF   CALEB. 


^|lf  ^T  is  gratifying  to  see  merit  well  rewarded.  In  the  school- 
^1  ^  room  and  in  the  camp,  in  the  Church  and  in  the  State, 
every  generous  mind  looks  on  with  pleasure,  as  one 
who  has  toiled  hard  and  faithfully  obtains  at  last  the  honour 
he  deserves.  We  cannot  fail,  then,  to  read  of  Caleb's  fortunes 
with  peculiar  interest,  and  to  admire  at  the  same  time  the 
readiness  "with  which  Joshua  acknowledged  his  claims  to  special 
consideration. 

Not  without  importance  is  the  question  of  Caleb's  genealogy. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  Jephuuneh,^  who  was  a 

*  Num.  xxxiv.  19. 


CALEB  S  CHARACTEE.  175 

descendant  of  Hezron,  the  son  of  Pharez,  tlie  grandson  of  Judah.^ 
But  Jephunneh  is  called  the  Kenizzite,  whence  it  has  been  sup- 
posed that  he  was  descended  on  the  father's  side  from  the  tribe  of 
that  name,  mentioned  in  Gen.  xv.  19,  who  were,  in  all  probability, 
a  clan  of  the  Edomites.  This  is,  however,  a  hasty  conclusion  ; 
for  the  term  Kenizzite  here  means  simply  a  descendant  of  Kenaz, 
of  w^hom  we  know  nothing  more,  but  who  must  have  belonged 
to  the  posterity  of  Judah,  and  was  probably  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  family ;  for  Othniel,  the  brother  of  Caleb,  is 
called  his  son,^  and  one  of  Caleb's  own  sons  was  named  Kenaz.^ 
Seven  years  had  elapsed  since  the  entrance  of  the  Israelites 
into  Canaan,  when  Caleb  came  to  Joshua,  and  said,  '  Thou 
knowest  the  thing  that  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  the  man  of 
God,  concerning  me  and  thee,  in  Kadesh-barnea.  Forty  years 
old  was  I  when  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  sent  me  from 
Kadesh-barnea  to  espy  out  the  land ;  and  I  brought  him  word 
again  as  it  was  in  mine  heart.  Nevertheless  my  brethren  that 
went  up  with  me  made  the  heart  of  the  people  melt :  but  I 
wholly  followed  the  Lord  my  God'  (xiv.  6-8).  How  deeply 
would  Joshua  feel  as  his  mind  was  thus  thrown  back  to  former 
days !  and  with  what  interest  would  he  listen  to  his  honoured 
friend's  appeal !  Well  did  he  know  the  truth  of  this  statement. 
Well  did  he  know  that  there  was  in  it  no  exaggeration  of  the 
truth.  He  himself  w^as  Caleb's  companion  when  he  went  to 
search  out  the  land ;  and  he  himself  took  part  with  Caleb  when 
'  he  stiUed  the  people,'  who,  on  the  return  of  the  spies,  mur- 
mured at  the  report  given  by  the  ten.  Yes,  his  brethren  who 
went  up  with  him  made  the  heart  of  the  people  melt ;  but  he 
followed  the  Lord  wholly,  and,  confiding  in  His  promised  help, 
said,  '  Let  us  go  up  at  once  and  possess  the  land ;  for  we  are 
well  able  to  overcome  it.'  All  this  Joshua  knew.  He  had 
never  forgotten  it,  and  never  could.     The  conduct  of  Caleb  on 

'  1  Chrou.  ii.  5,  18,  25.  ^  Josli.  xv.  17.  '  1  Chron.  iv.  15. 


176  THE  INHERITANCE  OF  CALEB. 

that  occasion  was  too  noble,  too  generous,  ever  to  be  erased  from 
his  recollection  ;  and  to  that  conduct  he  owed  not  a  little,  as  it 
encouraged  him  also  to  deny  the  report  of  the  faithless  and 
timid  spies. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  follow  the  Lord  fully.  Not  a  few  there 
are  who  enter  upon  the  path  of  duty  well,  and  who  are  brave 
and  heroic  enough  when  they  first  encounter  the  foes  they  have 
to  meet,  but  who,  ere  long,  become  timid  and  fainthearted,  and 
soon  give  up  the  contest  in  despair.  To  follow  the  Lord  fully 
requires  courage,  zeal,  and  confidence  more  than  ordinary ;  and 
happy  is  the  man  who,  possessing  these,  does  not  let  '  good 
beginnings  vanish,'  but  in  whom  '  the  last  corresponds  with 
the  first.' 

The  veteran  soldier  proceeds  to  remind  Joshua,  that  Moses 
sware  unto  him  that  day,  saying,  '  Surely  the  land  whereon  thy 
feet  have  trodden  shall  be  thine  inheritance,  and  thy  children's 
for  ever,  because  thou  hast  wholly  followed  the  Lord  thy  God.' 
No  record  of  any  such  oath  is  found  either  in  Num.  xiv.  or  in 
Deut.  i. ;  all  that  we  find  there,  is  a  promise  given  by  God 
Himself,  that  Caleb  should  enter  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  that 
his  seed  should  possess  it.  '  To  him  will  I  give  the  land  that  he 
hath  trodden  upon,  and  to  his  children,  because  he  hath  wholly 
followed  the  Lord.'  On  what,  then,  was  the  claim  of  Caleb  to 
any  particular  portion  of  the  country  founded  ?  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  as  Keil  observes,  '  the  Lord  God  had  made 
an  express  declaration  to  Moses  with  reference  to  His  faithful 
servant,  and  that  Moses  had  informed  him  of  it,  probably  in  the 
hearing  of  Joshua  also.'  And  what  if  that  promise  had  not 
been  placed  on  the  public  records  ?  Was  it,  therefore,  to  fail  ? 
was  it,  therefore,  not  to  hold  good  ?  It  could  by  no  means  fail ; 
and  now  the  time  had  arrived  when  Caleb  saw  that  he  might 
*ay  claim  to  the  inheritance,  and  this  was  therefore  his  request. 

*  And  now,'  said  he,  *  the  Lord  hath  kept  me  alive,  as  He 


A  GREEN  OLD  AGE.  177 

Baid,  these  forty  and  five  years,  even  since  the  Lord  spake  this 
word  unto  Moses,  while  the  children  of  Israel  wandered  in  the 
wilderness  ;  and  now  also  I  am  this  day  fourscore  and  five  years 
old.  As  yet  I  am  as  strong  this  day  as  I  was  in  the  day  that 
Moses  sent  me  :  as  my  strength  was  then,  even  so  is  my  strength 
now,  for  war,  both  to  go  out,  and  to  come  in.' — '  I  am  this  day 
fourscore  and  five  years  old.'  It  was  the  second  year  after  the 
Exodus  that  the  events  referred  to  by  Caleb  occurred ;  and,  as 
he  says  forty-five  years  had  since  elapsed,  it  has  been  inferred 
that  thirty-eight  of  these  yeare  were  spent  in  the  wilderness,  and 
seven  in  the  conquest  of  the  land  of  Canaan.  Already,  then,  his 
life  had  been  toilsome,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Joshua,  he 
was  twenty  years  older  than  the  oldest  of  the  people  then  alive ; 
and  yet  his  abihty  for  counsel  and  for  action  remained  unim- 
paired. A  green  old  age  is  pleasant  to  contemplate.  Beautiful 
is  the  aged  oak  which,  though  gnarled  and  knotted,  still  throws 
out  young  branches,  and  is  covered  with  luxuriant  foliage  ;  but 
there  is  something  specially  attractive  in  an  aged  man  who  carries 
about  with  him  the  elasticity  and  buoyancy  of  youth,  and  whose 
manly  frame  seems  as  if  it  bade  defiance  to  the  ordinary  ravages 
of  time.  When  Ulysses  returned  home  to  Ithaca,  after  long 
sufferings,  in  the  twentieth  year,  his  strength  was  unimpaired ; 
and  the  bow,  which  others  had  attempted  to  bend  in  vain,  he 
took,  and  with  the  utmost  ease  sent  the  arrow  flying  through  the 
rings.  And  often  have  we  heard  of  aged  men  who,  in  like  manner, 
have  put  many  younger  to  the  blush  by  their  bold  and  daring 
feats.  Usually,  however,  it  is  otherwise.  '  Men  of  age,'  says 
Lord  Bacon,  '  object  too  much,  consult  too  long,  adventure  too 
little,  repent  too  soon,  and  seldom  drive  business  home  to  the 
full  period,  but  content  themselves  with  a  mediocrity  of  success.' 
But  Caleb  was  of  the  opposite  class.  He  was  prepared  to 
adventure  as  much  now  as  when  he  was  sent  to  spy  out  the 
land.     He  was  as  well  able  to  drive  the  business  home  as  when 


178  THE  INHERITANCE  OF  CALEB. 

first  he  entered  on  the  task.  Ko  mediocrity  of  success  would 
satisfy  him ;  but,  if  he  might,  he  would  expel  the  Anakim  from 
the  mountain,  and  take  possession  of  it  for  himself  and  his 
posterity. 

The  mountain  for  which  he  asked  was  that  of  Hebron,  but  it 
was  in  possession  of  the  giant  race  of  the  Anakim;  for  after 
they  had  been  driven  out  by  Joshua,^  they  had  probably  taken 
the  advantage  of  his  absence  in  the  north  to  return  and  re- 
possess themselves  of  their  former  dwellings.  Caleb  knew  that 
they  were  there  ;  and  knew,  moreover,  that  to  expel  them  would 
be  no  easy  task.  Yet,  strong,  vigorous,  and  healthy  as  he 
was,  he  would  undertake  the  task,  and  perhaps  the  Lord  would 
be  with  him,  and  would  enable  him  to  drive  them  out.  This 
*  perhaps,'  however,  or  'if  so  be,'  does  not  indicate  doubt  on 
Caleb's  part.  He  distrusts  himself,  but  he  does  not  distrust 
the  power  of  God.  He  knows  the  difficulty  of  the  enterprise, 
but  hope  animates  his  breast ;  and  not  in  his  natural  strength 
does  he  rely,  but  in  the  promised  aid  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Some  of  the  princes  of  Judah  had  accompanied  Caleb  into 
the  presence  of  Joshua — ver.  6,  and,  as  he  belonged  to  that  tribe, 
they  doubtless  seconded  his  request;  for  'it  was  no  less  the 
interest  of  the  whole  people  than  of  one  private  family,  that  that 
which  as  yet  depended  on  the  incomprehensible  grace  of  God, 
and  was  treasured  up  merely  in  hope,  should  be  bestowed  as  a 
special  favour.'  But  was  the  lot  of  the  children  of  Judah 
already  determined?  and  did  Caleb  ask  for  this  mountain  because 
it  was  situated  in  the  territory  assigned  them?  There  is  no 
evidence  of  this.  On  the  contrary,  the  lot  of  Judah  was  deter- 
mined subsequently;  and  in  this  the  finger  of  God  was  manifest, 
that  it  fell  in  the  south  of  the  country,  where  Hebron  itself  was 
situated. 

'  It  was  fit,'  says  Matthew  Henry,  '  that  this  phoenix  of  his 

1  Chap.  xi.  21. 


HEBEON.  179 

age  should  have  some  particular  marks  of  honour  put  upon  him 
in  the  dividing  of  the  land;'  and  ready  enough  was  Joshua  to 
comply  -with  the  request  of  his  old  companion  and  friend. 
'  Joshua  blessed  him/  and  gave  unto  him  Hebron  with  the 
surrounding  country  for  an  inheritance.  His  blessing  him  was 
a  prayer  for  the  successful  issue  of  his  efforts ;  and  admirable 
was  the  spirit  of  Joshua  in  thus  recognising  Caleb's  claims  ;  nor 
would  Caleb  himself  forget  that  interview,  or  fail  to  reciprocate 
Joshua's  kindness.  The  whole  scene  must  have  been  one  of 
intense  interest ;  and  well  might  the  painter  exercise  his  skill  in 
depicting  it  on  the  canvas  in  the  highest  style  of  art. 

Beautiful  was  the  territory  thus  assigned  to  Caleb,  and  beau- 
tiful is  that  territory  still.  Describing  his  approach  to  it,  Dr 
Stanley  says,  'The  valleys  now  began,  at  least  in  our  eyes, 
almost  literally  "  to  laugh  and  sing."  Greener  and  greener  did 
they  grow ;  the  shrubs,  too,  shot  up  above  that  stunted  growth. 
At  last,  on  the  summit  of  farther  hills,  lines  of  spreading  trees 
appeared  against  the  sky.  Then  came  ploughed  fields  and 
oxen.  Lastly,  a  deep  and  wide  recess  opened  in  tTie  hills ; 
towers  and  minarets  appeared  in  the  gap,  which  gradually  un- 
folded into  the  city  of  "  the  Friend  of  God  " — this  is  its  Arabic 
name:  far  up  on  the  right  ran  a  wide  and  beautiful  uj^land 
valley,  all  portioned  into  gardens  and  fields,  green  fig-trees  and 
cherry-trees,  and  the  vineyards — famous  through  all  ages ;  and 
far  off,  gray  and  beautiful  as  those  of  Tivoli,  swept  down  the 
western  slope  the  oHve  groves  of  Hebron.'^ 

Hebron  was  a  very  ancient  city,  having  been  built  seven 
years  before  Zoan  in  Egypt,  which  was  no  doubt  erected  prior 
to  the  time  of  Abraham.  Hence  Hebron  was  a  well-known 
town  when  Abraham  entered  the  land  of  Canaan.  'Its  name 
before,'  says  the  historian,  '  was  Kirjath-arba;  which  Arba  was 
a  great  man  among  the  Anakims.'     The  Rabbins  say  that  this 

i  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  99. 


180  THE  INHERITANCE  OF  CALEB. 

name  signifies  '  the  city  of  the  four,'  and  that  the  place  was  so 
called  because  the  four  patriarchs,  Adam,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  were  buried  there !  How  foolish  the  story  we  need  not 
stop  to  prove.  But  was  Kirjath-arba  really  its  original  name? 
and  did  it  now  receive  the  name  Hebron  for  the  first  time?  This 
cannot  be  supposed;  for  the  latter  name  occurs  in  the  Pentateuch, 
and  even  as  early  as  the  days  of  Abraham.^  We  conclude,  then, 
with  Hengstenberg,  that  it  was  originally  called  Hebron ;  that 
subsequently  it  received  the  name  Kirjath-arba,  from  a  giant  of 
the  race  of  the  Anakim  who  had  conquered  it ;  that  it  bore  this 
name,  as  well  as  that  of  Hebron,  up  to  the  times  of  Joshua  ;  and 
that  then  its  more  ancient  name  was  restored  to  it,  by  which  it 
was  ever  afterwards  particularly  distinguished.^ 

And  did  Caleb  accomplish  the  task  of  driving  out  the  Ana- 
kim from  that  mountain?  He  did,  though  not  until  after  the 
death  of  Joshua.  It  will  give  unity  to  this  chapter,  and  will  not 
interfere  with  any  subsequent  portion  of  the  work,  if  we  here 
trace  the  fortunes  of  Caleb  and  his  family,  and  mark  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  obtained  possession  of  the  inheritance 
allotted  to  them. 

These  circumstances  are  narrated  in  Joshua  xv.  14-19,  and 
again  in  Judges  i.  10-15.  It  has  been  supposed  that  the  latter 
passage  is  a  quotation  of  the  former,  or  that  the  former  is  a 
quotation  from  the  latter ;  but  neither  of  these  suppositions 
is  correct.  The  writers  of  these  two  books  derived  their  in- 
formation from  a  common  source, — probably  the  original  docu- 
ments of  the  period ;  and  from  the  fact  that  the  conquest  of 
Hebron  is  narrated  in  Judges  in  connection  with  other  events 
which  did  not  take  place  until  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  that 
event  itself  could  not  have  occurred  before  his  death.  Nor  is 
it  remarkable  that  this  event  should  be  narrated  in  the  book  of 

'  Num.  xiii.  22 ;  Gen.  xiii.  18. 

'  See  Hengstenberg's  =  Genuineness  of  the  PeutateucL,'  7ol.  ii.,  p-  U'&. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  ANAK.  181 

Joshua  also ;  for  that  book  was  written  probably  by  one  of  the 
elders  after  Joshua's  decease,  whose  design  it  was  to  complete 
the  history  of  the  division  of  the  land  among  the  tribes.^ 

Joshua,  then,  was  dead;  and  soon  after  Joshua's  death, 
Caleb,  now  an  old  man,  verging  towards  ninety,  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  his  own  tribe,  and  made  an  attack  on 
the  city  of  Hebron.  The  children  of  Anak  were  there — She- 
shai,  and  Ahiman,  and  Talmai — who  were  of  that  race  whose 
stature  so  greatly  alarmed  ten  of  the  spies  who  went  to  search 
out  the  land.  Whether  the  Anakim  were  really  very  tall  men, 
or  whether  they  only  appeared  such  in  the  imagination  of  the 
spies,  may  admit  of  question ;  but  that  there  were,  in  early  times, 
men  of  gigantic  stature,  there  can  be  little  doubt ;  for  the  Scrip- 
tures allude  to  them  in  many  places.  The  Greeks,  too,  had 
their  real  or  their  fabled  giants  in  the  Trojan  wars,  of  whom  the 
aged  Nestor  speaks  in  Homer  thus : — 

'  Their  equals  saw  I  never,  never  shall : 
Exadius,  Cseneas,  and  the  god-like  son 
Of  iEgeus,  mighty  Theseus  ;  men  renown'd 
For  force  superior  to  the  race  of  man. 
Brave  chiefs  they  were,  and  with  brave  foes  they  fought, 
With  the  rude  dwellers  on  the  mountain-heights. 
The  Centaurs,  whom  with  havoc  such  as  fame 
Shall  never  cease  to  celebrate,  they  slew.'  ^ 

Nestor  was  courageous,  but  his  prowess  was  surpassed  by  that 
of  Caleb ;  for  Nestor  fought  when  in  his  prime,  Caleb  when  he 
was  far  advanced  in  life.  A  noble  sight  it  must  have  been  to 
have  seen  the  veteran  warrior  advancing  to  the  attack  of  Hebron, 
animating  his  companions  to  follow  him  up  the  mountain,  and 
perhaps  putting  to  shame,  by  his  heroism  and  his  valour,  many 
that  were  considerably  younger  than  himself.  And  his  exploit 
was  successful :  Sheshai,  and  Ahiman,  and  Talmai  were  slain, 

>  See  Keil,  and  also  Calvin,  in  loco. 

2  '  Iliad,'  Book  i.  327.     Cowper's  translation. 


182  THE  INHERITANCE  OF  CALEB. 

and  all  their  followers  driven  out  of  Hebron.  Nor  did  Caleb 
stop  when  he  had  accomplished  this  object.  On  he  went 
to  Kirjath-sepher,  one  of  the  royal  cities  of  Canaan,  which 
Joshua  had  previously  conquered,  but  which,  like  Hebron, 
had  again  become  inhabited  by  the  Canaanites.  It  must  have 
been  a  noted  place,  as  its  name  "iDDTi^iJp,  Kirjath-sepher,  or 
n3D"n^"ip,  Kirjath-sanna,  is  said  to  signify  '  the  town  of  books,' 
or,  '  the  city  of  archives.'^  What  can  have  given  rise  to 
such  a  name  ?  Were  the  inhabitants  exclusively  occupied  with 
writing  and  the  sciences?  or  was  there  in  this  city  a  famous 
library,  like  that  of  Alexandria  at  a  later  period  ?  We  need  not 
have  recourse  to  either  hypothesis ;.  yet  books  there  must  have 
been,  and  therefore  the  art  of  writing  must  have  been  known 
by  the  Canaanites  as  well  as  by  the  Egyptians.  The  books 
which  the  city  contained  were,  however,  probably  few ;  and,  as 
Dr  Kitto  conjectures,  may  have  had  reference  to  superstitious 
rites,  or  may  have  been  '  records  and  covenants '  of  estates  and 
territories.  What  became  of  them,  it  is  useless  to  inquire ;  but 
it  is  scarcely  probable  that  they  would  escape  destruction  when 
Caleb  took  possession  of  the  city.  '  It  is  by  no  means  unHkely 
that  old  Caleb  threw  the  entire  bundle  of  books  that  formed  the 
library  of  Kirjath-sepher  into  the  fire.'^  The  city  was  also 
called  Debir,  which  some  think  signifies  'a  word,'  or  'an  oracle;' 
others,  that  it  signifies  '  coming  after,'  and  that  the  city  was 
so  called  because  it  stood  behind  the  other  cities  towards  the 
west. 

^  Both  names  are  rendered  by  the  LXX.  ?roX;;  r^a^^arsajv,  'the  city  of 
letters.'    Josh.  xv.  16,  4S. 

2  Dr  Kitto's  '  Daily  Readings,'  vol.  ii.,  pp.  301-303.  Thomas  Fuller  calls 
Kirjath-sepher,  'the  City  of  a  Book,  conceived  a  Canaanitish  university;' 
and  observes,  'Although  the  giant  Anakims  dwelling  hereabouts  may  be 
presumed  but  little  booJcish,  yet  civilised  countreys,  in  all  ages,  have  allowed 
Buch  places  for  the  education  of  youth,  who  are  better  unborn  than  unbred.' — 
Pisgah  Sifjht  of  Palestine,  p.  277. 


OTHNIEL.  183 

About  two  hours  south-west  of  Hebron,  Dr  Stewart  found 
the  ruins  of  a  town,  covering  the  hill  to  the  north,  called  Birket 
el-Dilbeh,  6f  which  he  says,  '  An  Arab  of  the  place  pointed  out 
to  me  an  aqueduct  covered  with  large  stones,  which  he  said 
brought  down  a  constant  supply  of  water  from  a  spring  near  the 
top.  A  stream  of  beautiful  clear  water  was  running  in  it.  The 
ruins  bore  the  same  name  as  the  wadi  and  birket.  The  whole 
valley  was  waving  with  corn.  A  little  farther  on,  in  the  same 
wadi,  we  came  to  an  ancient  draw-well,  built  with  hewn  stones, 
the  name  of  which  is  Bir  el-Hugry.  What  may  have  been  the 
name  of  this  town  in  ancient  days?  If  we  consider  the  Resh  to  have 
been  changed  for  the  sake  of  sound  into  Lamed,  we  have  in  Dilbeh 
a  suflQciently  exact  representation  of  the  name  Debir  to  permit  us 
to  conclude  that  this  was  the  city  taken  by  Othniel,  Caleb's  nephew, 
by  which  exploit  he  won  his  wife,  and  got  it  for  her  dower.'  ^ 

Not,  we  may  be  sure,  to  spare  himself,  but  rather  to  ani- 
mate others  with  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  Caleb  said,  'He  tha: 
smiteth  Ejrjath-sepher,  and  taketh  it,  to  him  will  I  give  Achsah. 
my  daughter  to  wife.'  Othniel,  having  perhaps  some  regard 
for  Achsah,  was  animated  by  the  promise  to  make  the  attempt 
his  courage  was  rewarded  with  success,  and  the  daughter  of 
Caleb  became  his  wife.  And  who  was  Othniel?  Some  say,  the 
nephew  of  Caleb,  as,  had  he  been  his  brother,  such  a  marriage 
would  have  been  illegal;  and  they  read  the  words  of  Joshua 
XV.  17;  Judges  i.  13,  'Othniel,  the  son  of  Kenaz,  Caleb's 
brother,' — making  Kenaz  Caleb's  brother.  But  Keil  observes, 
'  The  objection  offered  by  earlier  expositors,  that  marriage  with 
a  brother's  daughter  was  prohibited,  is  unfounded;'  and  certainly 
the  meaning  of  the  sacred  text  appears  to  be  that  Othniel  was  a 
descendant  of  Kenaz,  and  the  younger  brother  of  Caleb.  Othniel 
afterwards  became  the  first  judge  in  Israel.- 

But  Achsah  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  her  dowry ;  and,  on 

1  '  The  Tent  and  the  Khan,'  p.  224.  -  Judges  iii.  9. 


184  THE  INHERITANCE  OF  CALEB. 

arriving  at  her  home,  she  urged  her  husband  to  ask  of  Caleb, 
her  father,  an  additional  field.  Othniel  perhaps  hesitated  to  do 
this,  though  he  no  doubt  approved  of  her  wish ;  and  hence  she 
resolved  to  make  the  request  herself;  and  having  ridden  to  her 
father,  she  lighted  quickly  from  her  ass,  so  that  her  father, 
fearing  that  something  was  amiss,  said,  '  What  wouldest  thou  ? ' 
'  Give  me  a  blessing,'  was  her  reply :  '  for  thou  hast  given  me  a 
south  land ;  give  me  also  springs  of  water.'  ^  He  had  given  her 
Debir  as  her  marriage  portion;  but  it  was  a  south  land,  dry  and 
barren,  and  unfit  for  cultivation ;  so  that  she  wanted  also  lands 
abounding  with  springs  of  water,  so  essential  in  Palestine,  where 
severe  droughts  occur,  to  the  fruitfulness  of  the  soil.  There  was 
nothing  wrong  or  selfish  in  this  request.  She  had  probably 
examined  the  country,  and,  observing  that  Debir  was  not  well 
supplied  with  springs,  she  was  anxious  that  an  addition  should 
be  made  to  the  gift,  of  a  field  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  would 
supply  the  lack.  And  with  all  the  generosity  of  a  loving  father, 
Caleb  granted  the  request.  He  gave  her  'the  upper  springs 
and  the  nether  springs,'-^ — '  a  particular  tract  of  land  so  called 
from  the  springs  within  it  both  on  the  higher  and  the  lower 
ground ; '  for  he  saw,  perhaps,  that  her  wish  was  but  a  reason- 
able one,  and  not,  as  Calvin  represents  it,  '  the  wicked  thirst  of 
gain.' 

We  blame  not  Achsah,  as,  under  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  she  acted  prudently.  Let  not  the  young,  however,  be  dis- 
satisfied with  their  ijhare  in  the  patrimonial  estate.  Many  are 
the  heartburnings  in  families  occasioned  by  the  grasping  ambi- 
tion of  those  who  would  claim  more  than  by  right  belongs  to 

Josh.  XV.  18,  19;  Judges  i.  14,  15. 
'  The  word  here  used  is  Gulloth  (n'lVa),  a  word  which  only  occurs  in  theso 
two  places — Josh.  xv.  19,  Judges  i.  15.     The  root  signifies  to  tumble  or  roll 
over;  in  allusion,  perhaps,  to  the  welling  up  of  the  springs  in  a  globular  form. 
See  Stanley,  Appendix,  §  54. 


THE  POSTERITY  OF  CALEB.  185 

them,  and  who,  even  at  the  expense  of  their  nearest  relatives, 
try  to  get  possession  of  what  they  have  long  coveted.  Selfish 
and  mercenary  is  such  a  spirit,  and  the  man  who  displays  it 
does  so  at  the  cost  of  a  good  conscience  and  the  smile  of  Heaven. 

Far  from  possessing  such  a  spirit  was  Caleb  himself;  for  both 
Hebron  and  Debir  had  already,  at  the  time  he  conquered  them, 
been  assigned  to  the  Levites, — the  former  as  a  city  of  refuge :  ^ 
so  that  he  had  scarcely  got  possession  of  them  ere  he  had  to 
give  them  up  again,  retaining  only  for  himself  and  his  posterity 
'  the  fields  thereof,  and  the  villages  thereof.'  That  some  of  his 
descendants  would  dwell  in  these  cities  there  can  be  little  doubt, 
for  the  Levites  only  received  in  their  cities  as  many  houses  as 
their  numerical  strength  required ;  but  those  houses  became  their 
inalienable  possession, 2  and  it  must  have  been  a  sacrifice  on  the 
part  of  Caleb  to  surrender  much  of  what  he  had  so  hardly  won. 
It  was,  however,  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  nation ;  and  he  did 
not  hold  back  from  the  conquest  of  Hebron,  even  after  the  lot 
had  determined  that  it  should  be  partially  possessed  by  others. 

Respecting  Caleb's  posterity,  we  learn  from  1  Chron.  ii. 
the  following  particulars.  His  first  wife,  Azubah,  bare  him  a 
daughter  named  Jerioth,^  and  three  sons — Jesher,  Shobab,  and 
Ardon.  His  second  wife,  Ephrath,  bare  him  a  son  named  Hur. 
Besides  these,  he  had  several  other  sons  by  his  two  concubines ; 
so  that  his  family  was  numerous,  and  his  posterity  is  mentioned 
in  the  times  of  David.'*  He  was  a  noble  character,  and  God 
honoured  him  with  a  long  life  and  with  many  descendants  ;  and 
though  nothing  is  said  of  his  death,  yet  we  cannot  doubt  that  he 
went  down  to  the  grave  in  peace ;  a  grave,  it  may  be,  not  far 
distant  from  the  field  of  Machpelah,  where  Abraham,  the  illus- 

•  Josh.  xxi.  11,  15  ;  1  Chron.  vi.  55-58.  Lev.  xxv.  33,  34. 

'  Such  at  least  is  the  reading  of  the  Vulgate  in  1  Chron.  ii.  18 :  '  Azuba.  de 
qua  gemnit  Jerioth.' 

I  Sam.  xxv.  3,  xxx.  14. 


186  THE  INHERITANCE  OE  CALEB. 

trioiis  ancestor  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  was  buried  by  the  side 
of  Sarah  his  wife. 

And  what  of  Othniel,  the  brother  of  Caleb  ?  His  sons  were 
Hathath  and  Meonothai ;  ^  and  he  it  was  who  became  a  judge 
in  Israel,  and  who,  after  they  had  been  subject  to  Chushan-risha- 
thaim  eight  years,  delivered  them  from  his  yoke.  The  Lord 
raised  him  up  for  that  purpose:  'And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came 
upon  him,  and  he  judged  Israel,  and  went  out  to  war :  and  the 
Lord  delivered  Chushan-rishathaim  king  of  Mesopotamia  into 
his  hand;  and  his  hand  prevailed  against  Chushan-rishathaim. 
And  the  land  had  rest  forty  years'  (Judges  iii.  9-11). 

'  1  CLroi:.  iy.  13,  14. 


DEFILE  BETWEEN  JERUSALEM  AND  JERICHO. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


THE  LOT  OF  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 


]B.E  camp  of  Joshua  was  still  at  Gilgal ;  the  land  was 
now  at  rest  from  war ;  and  at  length  the  work  began 
of  dividing  Canaan  among  the  several  tribes  who  had 
not  yet  received  their  inheritance.  This  was  done  by  lot,  which 
decided,  not  the  size  of  the  inheritance— for  that  was  determined 
according  to  the  numbers  i— but  the  position  which  each  tribe  was 
to  occupy.  '  The  lot  causeth  contentions  to  cease,  and  decideth 
between  the  mighty.'-     For  it  is  not  regulated  either  by  the 


Num.  xxvi.  52,  53. 


-  Prov.  xviii.  1 8. 


188  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 

opinion,  the  caprice,  or  the  authority  of  men  ;  but — where,  as  in 
this  case,  it  has  His  sanction — by  the  Lord  Jehovah  Himself.^ 
It  was,  therefore,  a  wise  method  to  adopt ;  and  probably  each 
tribe  would  submit  to  the  decision  arrived  at  cheerfully,  and 
would  view  the  inheritance  assigned  to  it  as  the  immediate  gift 
of  God. 

The  mode  in  which  the  lots  were  cast  has  been  variously  ex- 
plained. Some  suppose  that  the  names  of  the  tribes  were  written 
down,  and  cast  into  an  urn ;  and  that  the  tribe  whose  name  was 
first  drawn,  selected  that  portion  of  the  land  which  it  deemed 
best.  Others  think  that  the  names  of  the  provinces  were  cast  into 
the  urn,  and  that  each  tribe  drew  according  to  its  rank.  But 
neither  of  these  methods  would  have  been  impartial ;  and  '  we 
must  therefore  assume,'  says  Keil,  '  that  there  were  two  urns — 
one  containing  the  names  of  the  tribes,  and  the  other  those  of 
the  ten  divisions  of  the  land — and  that  a  name  was  taken  at  the 
same  time  from  each  of  the  urns.'  By  such  a  plan  there  would 
be  no  room  left  for  any  dispute  ;  and  as  Joshua  and  Eleazar  are 
mentioned  as  distributing  the  inheritance  (xiv.  1),  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  former  drew  the  names  from  one  of  the  urns, 
and  the  latter  from  the  other. 

But  the  casting  of  the  lots  did  not  proceed  without  interrup- 
tion ;  for  as  soon  as  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  of  Joseph  had  re- 
ceived their  inheritance,  the  camp  was  removed  from  Gilgal  to 
Shiloh  (chap,  xviii.  1) :  the  land  which  had  not  been  appro- 
priated was  carefully  surveyed,  and  lots  were  then  cast  for  the 
seven  tribes  which  remained.  Different  explanations  of  this  fact 
have  been  attempted  by  the  commentators,  some  of  which  are 
wholly  at  variance  with  the  instructions  originally  given  to 
Moses,  and  therefore  must  be  at  once  rejected.  The  true  explana- 
tion appears  to  be,  that  the  casting  of  the  lots  commenced  before 
any  very  accurate  survey  of  the  land  was  made,  founded  on  the 

1  Prov.  xvi.  33. 


CASTING  THE  LOT.  189 

general  knowledge  of  it  already  obtained  by  the  people ;  but 
that  the  exact  dimensions  of  each  portion  were  determined  after- 
wards. Thus,  whilst  the  camp  was  still  at  Gilgal,  the  country 
was  divided  into  nine  different  lots,  which  were  named,  perhaps, 
according  to  their  relative  positions,  but  the  boundaries  of 
which  were  not  very  clearly  defined.  The  lots  were  cast,  and 
two  of  these  portions  fell  to  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  of  Joseph, 
who  at  once  took  possession  of  them,  under  the  direction  of 
their  princes.  Joshua  himself  belonged  to  the  latter  tribe, — that 
is,  to  the  tribe  of  Epbraim ;  and  it  was  natural,  therefore,  that 
he  should  leave  Gilgal,  and  pitch  his  camp  in  the  midst  of  his 
own  tribe.  This  he  did ;  and  Shiloh  became,  from  that  time, 
the  great  centre  of  all  his  operations.  For  another  reason  also 
this  was  done, — namely,  that  the  worship  of  God,  which  had  so 
long  been  interrupted,  might  now  be  recommenced ;  and  the 
probability  is,  that  the  spot  was  selected  in  accordance  with  the 
divine  command  ;  for  God  had  said,  '  When  ye  go  over  Jordan, 
and  dwell  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  your  God  giveth  you  to 
inherit,  and  when  He  giveth  you  rest  from  all  your  enemies 
round  about,  so  that  ye  dwell  in  safety ;  then  there  shall  be  a 
place  which  the  Lord  your  God  shall  choose  to  cause  His  name 
to  dwell  there:  thither  shall  ye  bring  all  that  I  command  you' 
(Deut.  xii.  10,  11).  Here,  then,  without  further  delay,  the 
tabernacle  was  erected,  and  here  it  continued  until  the  days  of 
Saul.  But  we  shall  return  to  this  locaUty  again ;  and  meanwhile, 
following  as  nearly  as  we  can  the  topographical  order  ^  of  the 
tribes,  from  south  to  north,  we  will  first  survey  the  territories  of 
Judah  and  of  Benjamin,  which  were  contiguous  to  each  other. 

*  This  is  not  the  order  in  which  they  were  assigned ; — that  order  was 
as  follows:— Judah,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Benjamin,  Simeon,  Zebulun, 
Issachar,  Asher,  Naphtali,  Dan  ;  but  it  will  be  more  simple  and  convenient  to 
take  the  topographical  order,  by  which  means  we  shall  be  able  to  proceed 
through  the  country  step  by  step,  and  obtain  a  general  notion  of  its  character, 
and  of  the  relative  positions  of  the  tribes. 


190  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 

'  JuDAH,  tliou  art  he  whom  thy  brethren  shall  praise,'  said 
the  aged  patriarch  Jacob ;  and  to  Judah  the  first  lot  fell,  he 
having  succeeded,  in  part,  to  the  privileges  of  the  first-born. 
Rich  and  valuable  was  his  inheritance  in  many  respects :  '  the 
part  of  Palestine  which  best  exemphfies  its  characteristic  scenery 
— the  rounded  hills,  the  broad  valleys,  the  scanty  vegetation  -, 
the  villages  or  fortresses — sometimes  standing,  more  frequently 
in  ruins — on  the  hill  tops  ;  the  wells  in  every  valley,  the  vestiges 
of  terraces,  whether  for  corn  or  wine.  Here  "  the  Hon  of  Judah  " 
entrenched  himself  to  guard  the  southern  frontier  of  the  chosen 
land,  with  Simeon,  Dan,  and  Benjamin  nestled  around  him.'^ 
His  boundaries  were  as  follows  :  on  the  south  it  commenced 
from  the  outmost  coast  of  the  Dead  or  Salt  Sea  eastward;  thence 
passed  on  to  the  south  side  of  the  heights  of  Akrabbim ;  pro- 
ceeded thence  to  Zin,  not  far  from  Kadesh,  and  thence  to  Hazar- 
addar  and  to  Azmon,  places  now  unknown ;  and  from  Azmon  it 
fetched  a  compass  to  the  river  of  Egypt — the  Wady  el-Arish 
thus  extending  far  into  the  desert.^  Its  western  extremity  here 
was  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  A  list  of  thirty-six  cities,  situated 
in  the  south  of  the  territory,  is  given  in  Josh.  xv.  21-32,  the 
sites  of  which,  with  but  few  exceptions,  are  quite  unknown. 
Beersheba,  where  the  patriarchs  sojourned,  and  which  was  thirty- 
one  Roman  miles  south-west  of  Hebron,  is  one  of  the  exceptions 
to  this  general  loss ;  and  Kerioth  is  perhaps  identical  with  the 
present  'Kereitein,  '  a  site  of  ruins  on  the  hill-slopes  on  the  west 
side  of  the  valley  which  descends  southward  from  Ma'in  towards 
the  desert.'^ 

The  eastern  boundary  was  the  whole  length  of  the  Dead 
Sea;  and  the  northern  boundary  passed  from  that  sea,. where  the 
Jordan  entered  it,  up  to  Beth-hoglah,  and  thence  to  Beth-arabah, 
and  to  the  stone  of  Bohan,  the  son  of  Reuben.     Of  the  two 

1  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  159.  -  Num.  xxxiv.  3-5 ;  Josli.  sv.  2-4. 

2  Van  do  Velde  ;  '  Memoir,'  p.  328. 


THE  NORTHERN  BOUNDARY.  191 

latter  places  we  know  nothing ;  but  Beth-hoglah  was  identified 
by  Dr  Robinson  with  a  fine  fountain  called  'Ain  Hajla,  two  miles 
west  of  the  Jordan.^  Beth-hoglah  was  assigned,  not  to  Judah, 
but  to  Benjamin,  as  also  was  Beth-arabah  (chap,  xviii.  21,  22). 
Through  the  valley  of  Achor,  the  boundary  then  went  up  to- 
wards Debir,  turned  northward  towards  Gilgal,^  passed  to 
En-shemesh  (the  fountain  of  the  sun),  and  thence  to  En-rogel 
(the  fountain  of  the  spies),  the  so-called  well  of  Job  and  Nehe- 
miah,  on  the  south-east  of  Jerusalem.  Passing  up  by  the  valley 
of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  it  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  mountain 
that  lies  before  the  valley  of  Hinnom  westward ;  and  from  the 
top  of  the  mountain  it  was  drawn  to  the  waters  of  Nephtoah, 
probably  the  fountain  of  Lifta,  which  lies  a  little  more  than  half 
an  hour  west-north-west  of  Jerusalem.^  Thence  it  proceeded  to 
the  cities  of  Mount  Ephron  (nowhere  else  mentioned),  and  on  to 
Baalah  or  Kirjath-jearim,  '  the  city  of  forests,'  one  of  the  cities 
of  the  Gibeonites,  identified  by  Robinson  with  '  Kuriet  el-Enab.* 
It  now  described  a  curv^e  westward  to  Mount  Seir, — not,  of 
course,  the  Idumean  mountain  of  that  name,  but  a  range  running 
in  a  south-westerly  direction,  where  Robinson  discovered  a  village 
named  Soris  or  Sores,  and  near  to  which  is  another  village 
called  Kesla.  supposed  to  be  identical  with  Chesalon  or  Mount 
Jearim.  Thence  it  proceeded  to  Bethshemesh,  'the  house  of 
the  sun,'  now  represented  by  ruins  on  the  west  side  of  'Ain 
Shems,  south  of  Wady  Surat ;  and  from  this  point  it  passed  to 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  embracing  Timnah,  Ekron,  Shichron, 
and  Jubniel, — the  latter  now  called  Jubna,  a  town  three  hours 
south-west  of  Ramleh.  The  sea  formed  its  western  boundary  ; 
but  ultimately,  as  we  shall  hereafter  find,  the  coast  country  was 

^  '  Eesearches,  vol.  ii.,  p.  544, 

2  A  place  of  that  name  distinct  from  tlie  Gilgal  of  Josh.  iv.  19. 

Stewart, '  The  Tent  and  the  Khan,'  p.  349. 
*  '  Researches,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  11 ;  vol.  iii.,  p.  156 ;  Van  de  Velde's  '  Memoir, 
pp.  347  and  304 


192  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 

assigned  to  the  tribes  of  Simeon  and  Dan.  In  the  low  ground  or 
valley  of  the  lot  of  Judah,  were  fifteen  cities,  the  names  of  which 
are  given  in  Josh.  xv.  33-36,  and  the  sites  of  several  of  which 
have  been  discovered.  In  the  actual  plain  were  sixteen  cities ;  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  hill  country  were  nine  cities ;  on  the 
Philistine  hue  of  coast  were  Ekron,  Ashdod,  and  Gaza,  with 
their  towns  and  villages ;  in  the  south-western  hills  were  eleven 
cities ;  north  of  these,  around  Hebron,  were  nine  cities  :  east  of 
these  was  a  group  of  ten ;  north  of  Hebron  a  group  of  four ;  to 
the  westward  of  Jerusalem,  Kirjath-jearim  and  Rabbah ;  and  in 
the  wilderness  or  desert,  between  the  mountains  and  the  Dead 
Sea,  there  were  six  cities  (Josh.  xv.  37-62). 

From  this  enumeration  of  the  cities  assigned  to  Judah,  we 
should  infer  that  the  territory  must  have  been  somewhat  thickly 
populated  by  the  original  inhabitants  ;  but  no  doubt  many  of  the 
so-called  cities  were  very  small,  and,  like  eastern  villages  of  the 
present  day,  were  occupied  by  only  a  few  families.  The  tribe 
of  Judah  numbered,  at  this  time,  76,500  who  were  twenty  years 
old  and  upwards ;  and  as  they  did  not  require  so  large  a  portion 
of  the  country,  many  of  the  cities,  as  well  as  the  line  of  coast, 
were  afterwards  given  up  to  the  tribes  of  Simeon  and  Dan, 
whilst  nine  cities  were  given  to  the  priests  (Josh.  xxi.  9-19).  It 
is  remarkable  that  Jerusalem,  which  afterwards  became  so  pro- 
minent in  the  history  of  the  tribe,  was  not  included  in  this  allot- 
ment, but  was  assigned  to  Benjamin.  Attempts  were  probably 
made  by  the  children  of  Judah  to  wrest  it  from  the  Jebusites, 
who  then  possessed  it;  but  they  were  unsuccessful,  and  it 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Jebusites  until  the  days  of  David 
the  king!^ 

The  physical  aspects  of  the  territory  of  Judah  were  much 
diversified.  In  the  south  was  the  undulating  pasture-land,  some- 
times designated  'the  wilderness  of  Judah  ;'2  in  the  east,  imme* 

»  Josh.  XV.  G3  ;  2  Sam.  v.  6,  7.  2  judges  I  16. 


PHYSICAL  ASPECTS.  193 

diately  adjoining  the  Dead  Sea,  was  Midbar,  or  the  wilderness, 
a  wild  and  desolate  country,  full  of  rocks  and  caves,  the  haunts 
of  wild  beasts  and  robbers,  one  of  whose  six  cities— Engedi,  '  the 
fountain  of  the  kid'— became  celebrated  in  the  history  of  Saul 
and  David.^  West  of  this  was  the  hill  country,  on  the  mountain 
tops  of  which  were  '  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,'  so  similar  in 
position  and  appearance  as  not  to  be  easily  distinguished  one 
from  another.  Among  these  was  Bethlehem,  '  the  house  of 
bread,'  called  originally  Ephrath  or  Ephratah,^  which,  though 
little  among  even  the  thousands  of  Judah,  became  the  birth- 
place of  David  the  son  of  Jesge,  and  afterwards  of  Him  who  was 
David's  Son  and  Lord.  Its  present  representative,  Beit-lahm, 
stands  on  a  hill  of  Jura  limestone,  six  Roman  miles  east  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  near  it  may  be  seen  flocks  and  shepherds  as  in  days 
of  old  ;  and,  in  the  time  of  barley  harvest,  reapers  in  the  fields, 
with  women  and  children  gleaning  after  them.  The  hills  of 
Judah  are  admirably  adapted  for  the  cultivation  of  the  vine ; 
and  here,  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  country,  it  grew  luxuriantly 
on  terraces  formed  on  the  mountain  sides,  and  carefully  guarded 
by  walls  and  watch-towers.  '  Binding  his  foal  unto  the  vine,  and 
his  ass's  colt  unto  the  choice  vine ;  he  washed  his  garments  in 
wine,  and  his  clothes  in  the  blood  of  grapes,'  was  the  prophecy 
of  Jacob  relative  to  his  son  Judah,  indicating  that  the  vine  would 
be  as  common  as  any  other  tree,  and  the  wine  obtained  from 
it  as  plentiful  as  water ;  and,  though  the  language  is  that  of 
poetry,  the  prediction  was  almost  literally  fulfilled,  for  to  Judah 
belonged  '  the  valley  of  Eshcol,'  and  other  choice  locahties, 
where  the  vine  abounded,  and  the  grapes  were  the  richest  that 
the  whole  land  produced. 

On  the  west,  between  the  hill  country  and  the  Mediterranean 

*  1  Sam.  xxiv.  1-i. 

2  The  phrase,  Ephratah,  does  not  occur  in  the  Hebrew  of  Josh.  xv.  48-62, 
but  is  inserted  in  the  Septuagint  version. 

n 


194  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 

Sea,  was  the  Shephelah,  or  lowland,  long  the  territory  of  the 
Philistines,  from  whom  the  whole  country  received  the  name  of 
Palestine.  But,  as  the  tribes  of  Simeon  and  Dan  were  sub- 
sequently located  here,  we  shall  reserve  our  remarks  respecting 
this  part  of  the  country  for  the  next  chapter. 

The  territory  thus  assigned  to  Judah  was  both  prominent  and 
extensive,  and  singularly  remarkable  were  the  fortunes  of  the 
tribe.  In  the  days  of  the  Judges,  Othniel  alone,  among  the 
rulers,  is  named  as  belonging  to  it ;  and,  at  a  later  period,  the 
Benjamite  Saul  was  anointed  king  over  the  whole  land.  But  in 
the  prophecy  of  Jacob  the  sceptre  was  given  to  Judah ;  and  when 
it  fell  from  the  feeble  hands  of  Saul,  David  the  Bethlehemite 
obtained  it,  and,  with  occasional  interruptions,  it  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  tribe  until  Shiloh  came.  Bright  and  glorious 
was  Judah's  history  during  the  reigns  of  David  and  of  Solomon  ; 
and  though,  when  Rehoboam  came  to  the  throne,  the  ten  tribes 
separated  from  the  kingdom,  yet  it  continued  to  prosper  in  spite 
of  all  its  enemies.  Often  pillaged  of  its  wealth,  that  wealth, 
partly  acquired  by  maritime  commerce  carried  on  through  the 
ports  on  the  Red  Sea,  remained  considerable  even  to  the  last ; 
and  when  the  ten  tribes  were  led  away  captive  into  Assyria, 
Judah  remained  in  her  strongholds  and  bade  defiance  to  Sen- 
nacherib and  his  hosts.^  Nor  would  she  have  ever  fallen  but  for 
the  practice  of  idolatry  which  several  of  her  kings  were  deter- 
mined to  introduce ;  and  it  was  to  cure  her  of  that  practice, 
that  the  king  of  Babylon  was  permitted  to  set  up  his  throne  in 
Jerusalem,  and  to  lead  captive  into  Babylon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land.^  And  the  end  was  answered ;  for  when,  at  the  close  of 
the  sevehty  years'  captivity,  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  return 
to  their  own  country,  they  did  so,  not  to  set  up  again  altars  unto 
Baal,  or  to  re-establish  the  grove-worship  of  Astarte,  but  to 
rebuild  the  temple  of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  and  hence- 

'  2  Kings  xix.  2  2  Kings  xxiv.,  xxv. 


THE  BOUNDARIES  OF  BENJAMIN.  195 

forth  to  worship  only  Him.^  That  worship,  it  is  true,  degener- 
ated into  mere  formality ;  but  it  continued  to  be  observed,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  worship  of  the  gods  of  the  heathen,  up  to  the 
time  when  Jesus  of  Nazareth  trode  the  hills  of  Judea,  and  walked 
within  the  porches  of  the  temple  beautified  by  Herod. 

Close  upon  the  northern  boundary  of  Judah  was  little 
Benjamin  with  his  flocks.  His  eastern  boundary  was  the  Jordan ; 
his  northern  boundary  coincided  with  the  southern  boundary  of 
Ephraim,  passing  through  the  mountains  towards  the  west ;  and 
his  western  boundary,  leaving  that  of  Ephraim,  which  ran  on 
to  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  came  down  from  the  mountains  to 
Kirjath-jearim.  Here  the  southern  boundary  commenced,  and 
coincided  with  the  northern  boundary  of  Judah.  Two  groups 
of  cities — the  one  of  twelve,  the  other  of  fourteen — were  found 
in  the  territory  of  Benjamin.^  Of  the  former,  Jericlw  and  Bethel 
were  the  most  distinguished :  among  the  latter  were  Gibeon, 
which  already  has  been  the  subject  of  remark ;  Mizpeh,  where 
Samuel  dwelt  as  judge,^  and  where  Saul  was  elected  king  ;■* 
Zelah,  where  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  buried;^  and  Jebusi,  ov 
Jerusalem,  which  became  the  capital  of  the  whole  land  of  Pales- 
tine, and  the  scene  of  the  grandest  and  most  momentous  events 
that  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Of  Benjamin, 
Moses  said,  '  The  beloved  of  the  Lord  shall  dwell  safely  by 
Him ;  and  the  Lord  shall  cover  him  all  the  day  long,  and  he 
shall  dwell  between  His  shoulders;'  and  when,  by  'the  rocky 
sides  of  Jerusalem,'  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  took  up  its  abode,  the 
prediction  was  literally  fulfilled.  Small  was  this  tribe  in  number 
—45,600— but  distinguished  was  its  history,  and  striking  was 
its  character.  '  In  his  mountain  passes — the  ancient  haunts  of 
beasts  of  prey — Benjamin  "  ravined  as  a  wolf:"  in  the  morning 
descended  into  the  rich  plain  of  Philistia  on  the  one  side,  and  of 

1  Ezra  iii.,  iv.  ^  josh,  xviii.  11-28,  '  1  Sam.  vii.  16. 

*  1  Sam.  X.  17-24.  5  2  Sam.  xxi.  12-14. 


196  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 

Jordan  on  the  other,  and  "  returned  in  the  evening  to  divide  the 
spoil."  In  the  troubled  period  of  the  Judges,  the  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin maintained  a  struggle,  unaided,  and  for  some  time  with 
success,  against  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  nation.  And  to  the 
latest  they  never  could  forget  that  they  had  given  birth  to  the 
first  king.  Even  down  to  the  times  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
name  of  Saul  was  still  preserved  in  their  families ;  and  when  a 
far  greater  of  that  name  appealed  to  his  descent,  or  to  the  past 
history  of  his  nation,  a  glow  of  satisfaction  is  visible  in  the 
marked  emphasis  with  which  he  alludes  to  the  "  stock  of  Israel, 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin,"  and  to  God's  gift  of  Saul  the  son  of  Kish, 
a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.'^ 

The  two  distinguishing  features  of  the  territory  of  Benjamin 
were  its  passes  and  its  heights.  The  latter  were  of  considerable 
elevation,  being  2000  feet  and  upwards  above  the  level  of  the 
maritime  plain ;  and  the  former,  caused  in  part  by  the  torrents 
which  ran  down  either  side  of  this  lofty  water-shed,  were  the  only 
means  of  access  to  the  land  of  the  Philistines  on  the  east,  and  to 
the  fords  of  the  Jordan  on  the  west.  To  some  of  the  events 
which  occurred  in  these  passes — the  battle  of  Ai,  in  one  of  those 
on  the  east,  and  the  battle  of  Beth-horon,  in  one  of  those  on  the 
west — we  have  referred  already ;  and  in  later  times  they  were 
the  scenes  of  other  conflicts  not  less  important  in  the  general 
history  of  the  land.  Indeed,  all  the  leading  events  in  the  fast- 
nesses of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  received  a  special  character  from 
the  heights  or  the  passes  of  the  territory  assigned  to  it;  and  some 
of  those  events  appear  far  more  striking  when  viewed  in  con- 
nection with  the  physical  aspects  of  the  localities  where  they 
occurred. 

Gibeah,  or  '  the  hill,'  will  furnish  us  with  illustrations  of  this 
fact.  Its  site  was  discovered  by  Dr  Robinson  on  a  high  Tell, 
called  Tuleil  el-Ful,  or  the  ^  hill  of  beans,'  one  hour  and  a  quarter 

»  Stanley,  pp.  198-9. 


GIBEAH.  197 

north  of  Jerusalem,  which  commanded  an  extensive  view  of  the 
country  in  all  directions,  and  especially  towards  the  east.  Near 
to  it,  though  distinct  from  it,  was  Gaba  (Josh,  xviii.  24),  which  Dr 
Robinson  identified  with  Jeba,  a  small  village  on  another  emi- 
nence, and  probably  the  '  Gibeah  in  the  field'  of  Judges  xx.  31 ; 
from  which,  across  the  deep  ravine  on  the  north,  could  be  seen 
another  village  called  Mukhmas,  the  ancient  Michmash,  lying 
directly  over  against  Jeba,^  in  a  direction  about  north-east. 
The  former  Gibeah  is  not  mentioned  among  the  cities  of  Ben- 
jamin in  Josh,  xviii. ;  but  we  find  it  in  the  history  of  the  Judges 
as  the  scene  of  the  sad  and  shameful  story  of  the  Levite  and  his 
concubine,  which  gave  rise  to  a  disastrous  war,  in  which  there 
fell  of  the  Israelites  and  of  Benjamites  sixty-five  thousand  men. 
The  Levite  having  made  the  conduct  of  the  men  of  Gibeah  known 
through  all  the  land  of  Israel,  a  council  of  the  tribes  was  held  at 
Mizpeh ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  go  up  against  Gibeah,  and  to 
demand  the  men  who  had  committed  that  great  sin.  The  Ben- 
jamites refused,  and  came  forth  against  the  Israelites  to  battle, 
and  twice  obtained  a  victory  over  them.  But,  having  asked 
counsel  of  the  Lord,  the  Israelites  made  a  third  attack  upon  the 
Benjamites.  They  set  Hers  in  wait  about  Gibeah ;  they  then 
went  up  against  Gibeah  as  they  had  done  before,  and  when  the 
Benjamites  came  out  to  attack  them,  they  fled,  and  drew  them 
away  from  the  city.  The  liers  in  wait  then  hasted  and  rushed 
upon  Gibeah,  and  ere  long  the  Benjamites,  who  were  in  pursuit 
of  the  Israelites  in  the  valley,  looked  round  and  saw  '  the  flame 
of  the  city  ascending  up  to  heaven.'  They  were  dismayed ;  they 
turned  their  backs  and  fled  towards  the  way  of  the  wilderness. 
But  the  battle  overtook  them — they  were  enclosed  on  every  side  ; 
and  there  fell  of  them  eighteen  thousand  men,  who  were  all  men 
of  valour.  Seven  thousand  more  fell  in  their  flight  towards  the 
rock  Kimmon,  and  on  that  rock  six  hundred  more  abode  four 
1  '  Besearclies,'  vol.  i.,  pp.  440  and  577. 


198  JUDAH  AND  BENJAMIN. 

months.  This  spot  Robinson  discovered  in  a  village  called  Rum- 
mon,  situated  on  and  around  the  summit  of  a  conical  chalky  hill, 
distant  from  Gibeah  about  seven  Roman  miles.  It  is  described 
by  Mr  Finn  as  a  strong  natural  fortification  on  the  south  and 
west  sides,  in  the  latter  of  which  he  found  two  caverns,  and  two 
larger  ones  on  the  eastern  side,  in  which  we  may  well  suppose 
the  six  hundred  fugitives  took  up  their  abode.^ 

Gibeah  was  the  home,  if  not  the  birth-place  of  Saul ;  and 
here,  after  he  had  been  anointed  king,  a  conflict  took  place 
between  him  and  the  Philistines.  The  latter  had  fixed  their 
garrison  at  Michmash,  which,  as  we  have  seen  from  Dr  Robin- 
son's remarks,  was  a  little  north  of  Gibeah,  a  deep  ravine  lying 
between  them  called  the  Wady  es-Suweinit.  The  Philistines 
had  sent  spoilers  out  of  Michmash,  who  spread  themselves  in 
three  different  directions;  when  Jonathan,  Saul's  son,  left  his 
father's  camp  at  Gibeah,  accompanied  by  his  armour-bearer, 
and  proceeded  through  the  passage  towards  the  garrison  of  the 
Philistines.  *  In  this  valley,'  says  Dr  Robinson,  '  are  two  hills 
of  a  conical,  or  rather  a  spherical  form,  having  steep  rocky  sides, 
with  small  wadys  running  up  behind  each,  so  as  almost  to  isolate 
them.'^  And  what  says  the  Scripture  narrative ?  'There  was 
a  sharp  rock  on  the  one  side  and  a  sharp  rock  on  the  other  side: 
and  the  name  of  the  one  was  Bozez,  and  the  name  of  the  other 
Seneh.'^  Passing  these  rocks,  Jonathan  and  his  armour-bearer 
ventured  towards  Michmash  ;  and  when  the  men  of  the  garrison 
saw  them,  they  said,  *  Come  up  to  us,  and  we  will  shew  you  a 
thing.'  Jonathan  took  this  as  a  sign  that  the  Lord  had  de- 
livered them  into  the  hand  of  Israel ;  and,  climbing  up  the  steep 
ascent  on"  his  hands  and  feet,  he  attacked  the  Philistines,  and  his 
armour-bearer  slew  after  him.    A  panic  seized  the  garrison  ;  the 

'  See  Judges  xx. ;  '  Kesearclies,'  vol.  i.,  p.  440  ;  Van  de  Yelde's  '  Memoir,' 
p.  345. 

2  '  Eoscarclies,'  vol.  i.,  p.  441.  s  i  gam.  xiv.  1-23. 


JONATHAN  AND  THE  PHILISTINES.  199 

shock  of  an  earthquake  was  just  then  experienced ;  the  PhiHs- 
tines  turned  their  swords  one  against  another;  and  the  watchmen 
on  the  heights  of  Gibeah  observed  them  melting  away,  and 
wondered  at  the  cause.  Great  was  the  discomfiture  of  the 
Phihstines ;  and  the  Lord  saved  Israel  that  day,  and  the  battle 
passed  over  to  Beth-aven. 

It  would  lead  us  too  far  away  to  refer  to  other  events  which 
occurred  in  the  territory  of  Benjamin:  and  we  mention  these  only 
as  illustrative  of  the  character  of  the  country  allotted  to  that 
tribe.  Its  hills  and  its  passes  were  the  scenes  of  many  conflicts 
and  of  many  victories,  extending  through  the  whole  history  of 
David  and  the  kings,  repeated  subsequent  to  the  captivity  and 
during  the  times  of  the  Maccabees,  and  occurring  again,  more 
terribly  than  before,  after  the  rejection  by  the  Jews  of  Jesus 
the  Messiah.  Little  did  the  Benjamites  know,  when  they  took 
possession  of  their  inheritance,  that  those  hills  would  ever  wit- 
ness such  events  as  those  which  came  to  pass.  Wisely  were 
they  hidden  from  them,  even  as  the  future  of  the  history  of 
Palestine  is  wisely  hidden  from  us.  Its  future  will  perhaps  be  as 
momentous  as  its  past ;  but  to  man  it  is  not  given  to  uplift  the 
curtain  which  hides  that  future  from  our  view,  and  all  that 
we  can  do  is  patiently  to  watch  and  avait. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


THE    LOT    OF    SIMEON    AND    DAN. 


HE  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  had  assembled 
at  Shiloh,  and  there  the  tabernacle  had  been  set  up 
when,  after  some  delay, — arising,  as  may  be  supposed, 
from  an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  prosecute  the 
work  of  dividing  the  land  on  such  inaccurate  a  measurement  as 
that  on  which  it  had  commenced, — Joshua  proposed  that  three 
men  out  of  each  of  the  seven  tribes  should  go  through  the  whole 
country  and  describe  it,  and  that,  on  their  return,  these  seven 
tribes  should  receive  their  inheritance  by  lot.  See  chap,  xviii.  1-6. 
The  proposal  was  agreed  to,  and  the  men  selected  entered 
on  their  task.  Josephus  says  that  Joshua  sent  with  them  '  some 
geometricians,  who  could  not  easily  fail  of  knowing  the  truth  on 


LAND-SURVEYING.  201 

account  of  their  skill  in  that  art;'  and,  moreover,  that  he  'gave 
them  a  charge  to  estimate  the  measure  of  that  part  of  the  land 
that  was  most  fruitful,  and  what  was  not  so  good;'  for  some 
portions  of  it  being  much  better  than  others,  Joshua  thought  that 
it  should  be  estimated,  not  by  its  extent,  but  by  the  richness  of 
its  soil.  The  same  writer  says  that  the  survey  occupied  seven 
months,  at  the  end  of  which  period  the  men  returned  to  the 
camp  at  Shiloh.^ 

It  has  been  thought  that  this  must  have  been  an  accurate 
and  scientific  survey,  for  the  men  described  the  land  by  cities, 
dividing  it  into  seven  parts,  in  a  book  or  tablet ;  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  they  were  well  able  to  do  this,  as  the  Israel- 
ites had  learnt  the  art  of  mensuration  in  Egypt,  where,  on  account 
of  the  annual  overflowing  of  the  Nile,  it  had  been  practised  from 
the  earhest  times.^  '  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,'  says  Sir  J.  G. 
Wilkinson,  *  that,  as  the  inundation  subsided,  litigation  often  oc- 
curred between  neighbours  respecting  the  limits  of  their  unen- 
closed fields ;  and  the  fall  of  a  portion  of  the  bank,  carried  away 
by  the  stream  during  the  rise  of  the  Nile,  frequently  made  great 
alterations  in  the  extent  of  land  near  the  river  side.  A  mode  of 
determining  the  quantity  which  belonged  to  each  individual  was, 
therefore,  very  necessary,  both  for  settHng  disputes  with  a  neigh- 
bour, and  for  ascertaining  the  tax  due  to  government.  But  it 
is  difficult  to  fix  the  period  when  the  science  of  mensuration 
commenced.  If  we  have  ample  proofs  of  its  being  known  in  the 
time  of  Joseph,  this  does  not  carry  us  far  back  into  the  ancient 
history  of  Egypt ;  and  there  is  evidence  of  geometry  and  mathe- 
matics having  already  made  nearly  the  same  progress  at  the 
earliest  period  of  which  any  monuments  remain,  as  in  the  later 
era  of  the  Great  Kemeses.'  ^ 

This  valuable  art,  then,  was  acquired  by  the  Israehtes  during 

»  Antiq.  V.  i.  21.  *  Herod,  ii.  109  ;  Diod.  i.,  p.  69. 

'  '  Popular  Account,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  248. 


202  SIMEON  AND  DAN. 

their  residence  in  Egypt,  and  now  they  were  able  to  turn  it  to 
account  for  their  own  mutual  benefit.  And  yet  it  is  doubtful, 
after  all,  whether  a  complete  geometrical  measurement  of  the  land 
was  taken ;  for  the  Canaanites,  who  were  still  very  numerous, 
would  scarcely  have  allowed  the  men  to  pass  quietly  through 
every  corner  of  it  and  measure  it  with  a  line.-^  Rather  was  it, 
as  we  conceive,  as  accurate  a  survey  as  could  be  obtained  under 
the  circumstances,  and  sufficiently  so  to  enable  Joshua  to  divide 
the  rest  of  the  country  among  the  seven  tribes,  who  had  not  yet 
received  their  inheritance,  with  a  due  regard  to  their  respective 
claims.  That  it  did  not  embrace  the  territories  already  assigned 
to  Judah  and  Joseph,  is  expressly  stated ;  it  was  found,  how- 
ever, that  the  former  had  obtained  a  larger  tract  of  country 
than  they  required ;  and  this  survey  having  proved,  as  we  may 
well  suppose,  that  the  unassigned  lands  were  by  no  means  too 
extensive  for  the  seven  tribes,  it  was  resolved  that  the  children  of 
Judah  should  give  up  to  Simeon  a  portion  of  their  inheritance. 

Accordingly,  '  the  inheritance  of  the  children  of  Simeon  was 
within  the  inheritance  of  the  children  of  Judah ' — chap.  xix.  1,  9. 
*  But  whether,'  says  Keil,  '  it  was  a  compact  territory  or  not, 
cannot  be  determined  with  certainty,  because  only  the  cities 
allotted  to  Simeon  are  given,  and  the  situation  of  many  of  them 
is  unknown.' 

In  the  south  of  the  territory  of  Judah,  thirteen  cities  were 
given  to  Simeon,^  together  with  the  villages  situated  near  them. 
Among  these  were  Beersheba,  on  the  borders  of  Palestine 
and  the  Wady  es  Seba ;  Moladah,  which  Robinson  identified 
with  el  Milh,  where  he  found  two  wells  forty  feet  deep,  and  the 
stones  of" a  ruined  town,  scattered  over  a  space  nearly. half  a 
mile  square,  all  unhewn ;  and  Ziio^ag,  which  subsequently  was 
in  the  possession  of  Achish,  king  of  Gath,  and  was  presented  by 
him  to  David  when  he  was  persecuted  by  Saul,  but  at  a  little 

*  See  Keil  on  Joshua,  p.  414.       ^  j^gi^^  ^.j^.  2,  6,  comp.  1  Chron.  iv.  28-51. 


THE  CITIES  OF  SIMEON.  203 

later  period  was  set  on  fire  by  the  Amalekites.  The  sites  of  the 
rest  are  not  known,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Hormah, 
called  also'Zephath,  which  Robinson  identifies  with  the  pass  Es- 
Sufah,  on  the  extreme  south  of  the  Land  of  Promise. 

A  second  group  of  four  cities  was  ceded  to  Simeon— Ain, 
Remmon,  Ether,  and  Ashan — with  all  the  villages  that  w^ere 
round  about  them  to  Baalath-beer,  or  Ramah  of  the  south. 
The  situation  of  Ain  is  unknown  ;  Remmon  was  in  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  territory  of  Judah;  and  Ether  and  Ashan 
were  in  the  Shephelah  or  low  country  of  Judah,  where  Yan  de 
Velde  heard  of  ruins  and  ancient  sites,  one  of  which  was  called 
by  the  people  at  Beit- Jibrin,  Tell  'Athar.^ 

In  some  maps  of  Palestine,  even  of  modern  date,  a  distinctly 
marked  territory  is  assigned  to  Simeon  on  the  borders  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  tribe  ever 
possessed  more  than  a  few  cities  and  villages  in  that  locality. 
The  prophecy  of  Jacob  respecting  it — '  I  will  disperse  them  in 
Judah,  and  scatter  them  in  Israel ' — was  literally  fulfilled ;  and 
reduced  in  numbers  from  59,300  fighting  men  to  22,200,^  they 
were  but  little  capable  of  making  aggressions  on  the  tribes  of 
Canaan,  and  could  scarcely  retain  what  cities  they  had  received. 
Judah  took  Gaza,  Askelon,  and  Ekron,  cities  of  the  Philistines, 
and  probably  gave  them  to  Simeon ;  but  the  Philistines  after- 
wards retook  them,  and  in  their  hands  they  were  found  in  the 
days  of  Samuel  the  prophet.^ 

Yet  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah  the  tribe  of  Simeon  appears  to 
have  possessed  a  spirit  of  enterprise  of  more  than  ordinary 
daring.  Finding  themselves  in  want  of  pasture  lands  for  flocks, 
five  hundred  men  of  the  tribe,  having  for  their  captains  Pelatiah, 
Neariah,  Rephaiah,  and  Uzziel,  the  sons  of  Ishi,  made  a  brilliant 
and  successful  attack  on  certain  Hamitic  tribes  dwelling  in  tents 

1  '  Memoir,'  p.  311.  ^  Comp.  Num.  i.  22,  23,  xxvi.  12-14. 

3  Comp.  Judg.  i.  18  ;  1  Sam.  vi.  17. 


204  SI3IE0N  AND  DAN. 

beyond  the  southern  boundaries  of  Palestine.  The  locality  was 
'  at  the  entrance  of  Gedor,'  or,  as  the  LXX.  read  it,  Gerar,  on 
*the  east  side  of  the  valley,'  which,  there  is  little  doubt,  was 
between  the  southern  boundary  of  Judah  and  Mount  Seir, 
whither,  it  is  said,  these  marauders  went.^  It  was  a  daring  act ; 
and  had  we  the  details  of  the  story,  they  would  probably  prove 
as  romantic  as  many  of  the  stories  of  Bedouin  life.  But  doubtless 
the  parties  were  well  repaid ;  for  '  they  found  fat  pasture  and 
good,  and  the  land  was  wide,  and  quiet,  and  peaceable,' — a  de- 
scription which  agrees  with  the  accounts  of  this  territory  given 
by  modern  travellers.  '  The  wadys  are  full  of  trees,  and  shrubs, 
and  flowers ;  while  the  eastern  and  higher  parts  are  extensively 
cultivated,  and  yield  good  crops.  The  general  appearance  of 
the  soil  is  not  unlike  that  around  Hebron,  though  the  face  of  the 
country  is  very  different.  It  is,  indeed,  the  region  of  which 
Isaac  said  to  his  son  Esau,  "  Behold,  thy  dwelling  shall  be  the 
fatness  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  dew  of  heaven  from  above." '^ 

No  other  facts  are  related  of  this  tribe  in  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures. It  gave  to  the  nation  neither  judge  nor  prophet,  nor, 
indeed,  any  other  illustrious  person, — excepting,  perhaps,  Judith, 
who  traces  her  descent  from  Simeon  ;^  but  her  story  is  so  roman- 
tic as  to  render  it  doubtful  whether  she  was  more  than  the 
heroine  of  a  fiction.  We  may  suppose,  therefore,  that  this  tribe 
became  absorbed  in  that  of  Judah;  so  that  by  nothing  short  of  a 
miracle,  or  rather  a  series  of  miracles,  would  any  Israelite  of 
the  present  day,  or  indeed  any  Israelite  after  the  captivity  in 
Babylon,  be  able  to  prove  that  he  belonged  to  the  house  of 
Simeon. 

Dan  was  the  next  neighbour  to  Judah,  the  territory  assigned 
to  that  tribe  being  west  of  that  of  Benjamin,  and  its  utmost 
coast  the  Mediterranean  Sea.     Judah  ceded  to  Dan  some  of  his 

'  1  Chron.  iv.  39-42.  *  Robinson's  '  Researches,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  154. 

»  Judith  ix.  2. 


TIMNATH  AND  EKRON.  205 

northern  cities,  and  Ephraim  some  of  his  cities  in  the  south ; 
and  thus  another  tribe  was  provided  for  out  of  the  over-abun- 
dance of  these  two. 

The  lot  of  Dan  was  narrow  in  its  boundaries,  but  rich  and 
fertile  in  its  general  character.  It  formed  part  of  the  great 
maritime  plain,  the  southern  portion  of  which  was  occupied  by 
the  Philistines,  and  was  so  fruitful  as  to  be  designated  '  a  little 
Egypt.' ^     Some  of  its  cities  are  of  considerable  interest. 

Of  these,  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  on  the  south,  were  received 
from  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Of  the  latter  there  is  now  no  trace ; 
but  the  former,  which  became  the  birth-place  of  Samson,  is  now 
represented  by  a  village  called  Sur'ah,  in  the  Wady  es-Surar,  a 
few  miles  west  of  Jerusalem.  In  the  same  neighbourhood  was 
Ir-shemesh  (the  city  of  the  sun),  equivalent  to  Beth-shemesh 
(the  house  of  the  sun),  the  ruins  of  which  were  found  by  Dr 
Robinson  near  'Ain  Shems,  consisting  of  many  foundations  and 
the  remains  of  ancient  walls  of  hewn  stone.^  This  city  was 
assigned  to  the  Levites,^  but,  in  the  days  of  Ahaz,  was  taken  by 
the  Philistines,^  who  probably  had  in  it  a  temple  to  the  sun, 
long  prior  to  the  conquest  of  Canaan  by  the  Israelites.  Shaal- 
abbin  and  Jethlah  are  unknown;  and  Ajalon,  Eltekeh,  Gibbethon, 
and  Gath-riramon  were  given  up  to  the  Levites.  Of  the  other 
cities  mentioned  we  know  little  or  nothing,  with  the  exception  of 
Timnath,  Ekron,  and  Japho ;  but  these  are  somewhat  celebrated 
both  in  earlier  and  in  later  times. 

Timnath,  or  Tiivinah,  was  recognised  by  Dr  Eobinson  in  a 
village  called  Tibneh,  one  hour  south-west  of  Zorah ;  and  from 
the  latter  place  to  the  former  there  is  a  considerable  descent, 
whence  it  is  said  of  Samson  that  he  went  down  to  Timnath,  where 
he  saw  the  woman  whom  he  wished  to  marry.  At  that  time 
Timnath  had  its  beautiful  vineyards;  and  such  vineyards  there 

^  See  Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  256. 

'  •  Kesearches,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  224.    '  Josh.  xxi.  9,  16.    *  2  Chron.  xsviii.  18. 


206  SIMEON  AND  DAN. 

are  now  in  all  these  hamlets  along  the  base  of  the  hills  and  upon 
the  mountain  sides,  which,  says  Dr  Thomson,  extend  '  far  out 
from  the  villages,  chmbiiig  up  rough  wadies  and  wild  cKfifs,  in 
one  of  which  Samson  encountered  the  young  Hon.'^  Ekron  was 
the  most  northerly  of  the  cities  of  the  Phihstines,  and  is  at 
present  represented  by  a  village  called  Akir,  in  a  plain  to  the 
north  of  the  Wady  Surar.  No  remains  of  antiquity  exist  at 
'Akir;  but  'this  may  be  accounted  for,'  says  Dr  Robinson, 
*  by  the  circumstance,  that  probably  the  ancient  town,  like  the 
modern  villages  of  the  plain,  and  like  much  of  the  present  Gaza, 
was  built  only  of  unburnt  bricks.'  Josephus  says  that  the  god 
of  Ekron  was  a  fly,  and  of  that  insect  Dr  Thomson  found  plenty 
at  this  spot.  It  was  from  Ekron  that  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
was  sent  back,  after  it  had  been  captured  by  the  Phihstines, 
upon  a  new  cart  drawn  by  two  milch-kine ;  and  these,  being  left 
to  their  own  course,  took  the  '  straight  way '  to  Beth-shemesh. 
'  In  coming,  therefore,  from  'Ain  Shems  to  Akir,'  says  Dr  Robin- 
son, '  we  might  almost  be  said  to  have  followed  the  track  of  the 
cart  on  which  the  ark  was  thus  sent  back.' 2  It  was  remarkable, 
however,  that  the  unguided  oxen  should  find  their  way  to  Beth- 
shemesh  so  readily,  for  it  Hes  by  the  side  of  a  long  rocky  spur  which 
strikes  down  from  the  mountains  south  of  Latron.  '  It  might 
be  said  by  those  ignorant  of  the  country,  that,  the  whole  distance 
being  a  level  plain,  there  was  no  great  miracle  needed  to  secure 
the  safe  transmission  of  the  ark  over  the  comparatively  short 
distance;  but  let  them  make  a  similar  experiment,  and  stake 
their  scepticism  on  its  success,  if  they  have  courage  to  do  so ;  or 
let  them  even  try  to  reach  Ain  es  Shems  themselves  without  a 
guide,  anil  see  how  they  will  succeed.'^  Doubtless,  then,  these 
oxen  were  under  the  direction  of  that  God,  the  symbol  of  whose 
presence  they  had,  as  it  were,  in  charge,  and  who  can  as  easily 

'  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  566.  2  ( Researches,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  228. 

'  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  535. 


JOPPA.  207 

guide  the  movements  of  inferior  creatures  as  He  can  control  the 
wayward  passions  of  mankind. 

jAPHO,,or  JoppA,  was  the  celebrated  harbour  of  Palestine, 
no^^  called  Jaffa,  the  history  of  which  is  full  of  interest,  and 
would,  if  written  in  detail,  fill  a  large  volume.  It  formed  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  territory  of  Dan,  whose  border  '  went 
up  to,'  or  '  over  against  Japho,'^  and  was  distant  from  Jerusalem 
about  36  miles.  A  very  high  antiquity  is  assigned  to  it  by  Mela, 
who  affirms  that  it  existed  prior  to  the  Deluge  ;2  and  rabbinical 
writers  derive  its  name  from  Japhet,  one  of  the  sons  of  Noah, 
whilst  classical  writers  refer  it  to  lopa,  the  daughter  of  Aeolus 
and  the  wife  of  Cepheus.  A  few  years  ago  a  remarkable 
Phoenician  sarcophagus  was  found  at  Sidon,  on  the  Hd  of  which 
was  an  inscription  of  twenty-one  long  lines,  in  Phoenician  cha- 
racters. A  copy  of  this  inscription  was  sent  by  Dr  Thomson  to 
the  Chevaher  Bunsen,  by  whom  it  was  transmitted  to  Professor 
Dietrich,  who  published  a  translation  of  it,  accompanied  by  an 
elaborate  critique.  From  this  translation,  which  is  given  at 
length  by  Dr  Thomson,  we  learn  that  the  sarcophagus  was  that 
of  Asheminazer,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  who  says,  among  other 
things,  that  Baal,  lord  of  the  kings,  bestowed  on  him  '  Dor  and 
Joppa,  and  ample  corn-lands  which  are  at  the  root  of  Dan.'  Of 
the  date  of  this  inscription  nothing  very  certain  can  be  affirmed, 
but  that  it  is  very  ancient  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  Dr  Thom- 
son seems  inclined  to  ascribe  it  to  the  times  of  the  Judges,  when 
Laish,  conquered  by  the  Danites,  was  a  Sidonian  city.^  By  the 
Due  de  Lugnes,  who  deposited  this  sarcophagus  in  the  Louvre 
at  Paris,  and  who  has  published  a  learned  commentary  on  the 
inscription,  it  is  assigned  to  the  end  of  the  seventh  century  be- 
fore the  Christian  era.* 

1  Josh.  xix.  46.  2  Pliny,  'Nat.  Hist.'  v.  13,  14. 

5  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  138,  etc. 
*  See  Stanley,  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  275. 


208  SIMEON  AND  DAN. 

The  whole  territory  of  Dan  was,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, exceedingly  rich  and  fertile,  being  distinguished,  like  the 
rest  of  Philistia,  for  its  numerous  corn-fields,  '  the  great  source 
at  once  of  the  power  and  the  value  of  Philistia ;  the  cause  of  its 
frequent  aggressions  on  Israel,  and  of  the  unceasing  efforts  of 
Israel  to  master  the  territory.'  The  history  of  Samson  is  bound 
up  with  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  country  which  was 
the  scene  of  his  wondrous  exploits.  There  was  '  the  standing 
corn  of  the  Philistines,'  with  *the  vineyards  and  olives,' — the 
former  nearly  ready  for  the  sickle,  the  latter  laden  perhaps  with 
quantities  of  ripening  fruit ;  and  Samson,  having  caught  three 
hundred  foxes  and  tied  them  tail  to  tail,  put  burning  firebrands 
between  their  tails,  and  sent  them  into  the  midst  of  the  standing 
corn  and  burnt  it.^  The  rock  Etam,  to  which  he  escaped  for 
refuge  from  his  enemies,^  was  in  the  territory  of  Judah,  probably 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bethlehem.  Gaza,  the  gates  of  which, 
with  the  door-posts,  he  carried  away  to  the  top  of  a  hill  near 
Hebron,  was  a  frontier  city  of  the  PhiHstines ;  and  here  the  brave 
Nazarite,  having  betrayed  to  his  wife  the  secret  of  his  strength, 
first  lost  his  eyes  and  then  sacrificed  his  life  ;3  but  he  was  buried 
in  the  midst  of  his  own  people,  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,^ 
doubtless  with  all  the  respect  which  his  brethren  and  his  father's 
house  could  show  him.  In  his  administration  of  twenty  years 
was  fulfilled  the  prophetic  w^ord  of  Jacob,  *  Dan  shall  judge  the 
people;'  but  the  dying  patriarch  added,  'Dan  shall  be  a  serpent 
by  the  way,  an  adder  in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horse  heels,  so 
that  his  rider  shall  fall  backward ;'  for  he  judged  the  people  'not 
without  a  certain  blame  and  contempt,  compared  with  the  veno- 
mous viper  or  cerastes,  which,  treacherously  lurking  in  the  sand 
or  the  trace  of  the  carriage-wheels,  not  easily  noticed  on  account 
of  its  grey  colour,  and  suddenly  darting  forth,  attacks  with  more 

1  Judg.  XV.  1-6.  2  Judg.  sr.  7,  8 ;  2  Chron.  xi.  6. 

»  Judg.  xvi.  1-3,  21.  «  Judg.  xvi.  31. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  LAISH.  209 

tal  bite  horse  and  rider ;  a  reptile  held  by  the  ancients  to  be  so 
formidable,  that  they  believed,  if  it  was  killed  by  a  man  on  horse- 
back with  a  spear,  that  "the  poison  would  run  up  the  weapon, 
and  kill,  not  only  the  rider,  but  the  horse  as  well." '  ^ 

The  last  census  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  showed  that  in  the 
tribe  of  Dan  there  had  been  an  increase  of  1700  fighting  men; 
the  numbers  being  in  the  first  instance  63,700,  and  in  the  second, 
64,400.  It  is  not  surprising,  then,  to  find  that  the  territory  of 
the  Danites  proved  too  narrow  for  them,^  especially  when  it  is 
stated  that  '  all  their  inheritance  had  not  fallen  unto  them  among 
the  tribes  of  Israel.' -^  But  they  were  a  bold  and  enterprising 
people,  and,  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Samson,  'they  sought 
them  an  inheritance  to  dwell  in.'  They  first  sent  five  men  of 
their  family  as  spies,  from  Zorah  and  from  Eshtaol,  who  went  to 
Mount  Ephraim,  and  lodged  in  the  house  of  one  Micah,  who  had 
a  Levite  as  his  priest.  From  the  Levite  they  obtained  counsel, 
and  crossing  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  they  proceeded  north- 
wards beyond  the  waters  of  Merom,  and  came  to  Laish,  a  town 
belonging  to  the  Zidonians,  situated  '  on  the  reedy  margin  of  the 
marsh,'  through  which  the  Jordan  first  flows.  It  was  several 
miles  from  Zidon,  the  parent  city  ;  and  the  spies  found  the  inha- 
bitants '  dwelling  carelessly,  after  the  manner  of  the  Zidonians, 
quiet  and  secure ;'  moreover, '  they  had  nothing  to  do,'  and  '  there 
was  no  magistrate  in  the  land,'  and  therefore  no  government ;  so 
that  the  town  was  evidently  in  a  defenceless  state,  and  might 
easily  be  taken  by  a  small  force.  What  did  the  five  men? 
They  returned  to  Zorah  and  to  Eshtaol,  and  said  to  their  bre- 
thren, '  Arise,  that  we  may  go  up  against  them :  for  we  have  seen 
the  land,  and,  behold,  it  is  very  good.'  At  once  six  hundred  men 
were  armed  for  the  enterprise,  who  first  pitched  at  Kirjath- 
jearim,  in  the  territory  of  Judah,  a  place  identified  by  Robinson 
with  Kuryet-el-'Enab,  near  to  Beth-shemesh ;  thence  they  pro- 
>  Kalisch  on  Genesis,  p.  757.  ^  JqsL.  xix.  47.  '  Judges  xviii.  1. 


210  SIMEOX  AND  DAN; 

ceeded  to  the  house  of  Micah,  in  Mount  Ephraim,  whom  they 
robbed  of  his  ephod,  his  teraphim,  and  his  priest ;  and  at  length 
thej  arrived  at  Laish,  and  finding  its  inhabitants  still  quiet  and 
secure,  smote  them  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  set  the  city 
on  fire.  These  lazy  Zidonians  well  merited  their  fate ;  but  the 
Danites  were  a  set  of  wild  and  '  angry  fellows,'  almost  equally  as 
lawless  as  were  the  victims  of  their  cruelty.  Their  conduct  was 
unjust  and  base,  and  is  mentioned  by  the  writer  of  the  book  of 
Judges  only  as  an  illustration  of  the  character  of  the  times. 

On  the  site  of  the  city  they  had  destroyed  they  built  another, 
which  they  called  Dan ;  and  here  they  set  up  the  graven  image 
of  Micah.  '  And  Jonathan  the  son  of  Gershom,  the  son  of 
Manasseh,  he  and  his  sons  were  priests  to  the  tribe  of  Dan  until 
the  day  of  the  captivity  of  the  land.'^  As  long  as  the  tabernacle 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah  remained  at  Shiloh,  the  graven  image 
remained  in  Dan.  And  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  idol-worship  was 
again  established  in  the  city  ;  for  there  he  set  up  a  golden  calf, 
and  thither  the  people  went  up  to  worship.^  In  how  many 
instances  has  a  city  which  was  established  by  iniquity  continued 
for  years,  and  even  for  centuries,  to  be  a  curse  to  its  inhabitants 
and  to  the  surrounding  country  !  '  Woe  to  him  that  buildeth  a 
town  with  blood,  and  stablisheth  a  city  by  iniquity ;'  and  woe 
also  to  the  town  thus  built,  and  to  the  city  thus  stabhshed; 
for  the  character  of  its  founder  will  be  impressed  upon  it,  and 
upon  it,  therefore,  must  rest  the  frown  of  God.^ 

*From  Dan  to  Beersheba'  became  a  common  expression  in 
Israel ;  and  the  meaning  of  it  is  explained  by  the  fact,  that  Dan 

Judges  xviii.  30,  31 ;  comp.  Josh.  xix.  47. 

-  1  Kin^s  xii.  29,  30  ;  2  Kings  x.  29. 

^  There  is  a  Dan  mentioned  in  Gen.  xiv.  14,  which  some  suppose  to  be  the 
I>au-Jaan  of  2  Sam.  xxiv.  6,  and  to  be  a  different  town  from  the  Dan  men- 
tioned above.  (Kalisca  on  Genesis.)  It  is  quite  as  probable,  however,  that 
these  places  were  all  identical,  and  that  the  name  Dan  was  inserted  in  the 
MSS.  of  Gen.  xiv.  by  a  later  copyist,  the  word  originally  having  been  Laish. 


DAN  TO  BEERSHEBA.  211 

was  the  most  northerly  city  in  the  land,  and  Beersheba  the  most 
southerly,  so  that  the  two  cities  were,  proverbially  at  least,  the 
extremities  of  Canaan.  But  '  Dan  has  ceased  to  be  a  city  for 
ages.  Not  one  solitary  habitation  is  there.  The  fountain  still 
pours  forth  its  river  of  delicious  water,  but  herds  of  black 
buffaloes  wash  and  wallow  in  its  crystal  pools.  You  cannot 
even  examine  the  site  with  satisfaction,  so  dense  is  the  jungle  of 
briars,  thorns,  and  thistles  which  have  overspread  it.'^ 

It  was  to  this  northern  colony  of  the  Danites  that  the  pro- 
phecy of  Moses  pointed  :  '  Dan  is  a  lion's  whelp  :  he  shall  leap 
from  Bashau.'  Of  the  southern  Dan  little  more  remains  to  be 
noticed  beyond  the  fact  intimated  in  the  song  of  Deborah,  that, 
when  she  summoned  the  Israelites  to  go  forth  against  Sisera, 
*  Dan  remained  in  ships  ;'  whence  it  would  appear  that,  dwelling 
as  they  did  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  tribe  had 
already  entered,  to  some  extent,  on  a  seafaring  life.  It  is  scarcely 
probable,  however,  that  they  became  anything  more  than  fisher- 
men; for  none  of  the  Israelites  gave  themselves  to  maritime 
pursuits,  but  were  content  to  trade  by  sea  through  the  medium 
of  the  Phoenicians.  Perhaps,  then,  the  ships  in  which  the  Danites 
remained,  were  only  Phoenician  vessels,  or  but  small  fishing  boats ; 
and  we  imagine  that,  thorough  landsmen  as  they  were,  all  that 
they  did  was  to  venture  out  a  little  distance  from  the  land  under 
the  care  and  direction  of  more  expert  seamen.  That  they  were 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  Phoenicians  at  a  later  period,  we 
gather  from  2  Chron.  ii.  14,  where  we  learn  that  Huram  sent  to 
Solomon  a  cunning  man,  whose  mother  was  of  the  daughters  of 
Dan,  and  whose  father  was  a  man  of  Tyre.  Such  intermarriages, 
though  forbidden  by  the  law,  were  perhaps  not  infrequent ;  but 
whether  they  were  or  not,  it  is  certainly  a  remarkable  coin- 
cidence that  this  one  should  be  met  with  in  the  tribe  of  Dan, 
whose  intercourse  with  the  Phoenicians  was,  no  doubt,  main- 

»  *  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  216 


212  SIMEON  AND  DAN. 

tained  by  means  of  the  Tyrian  mariners  who  visited  the  port  of 
Joppa. 

The  tribe  of  Dan  is  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  xxvii.  22,  but  is 
omitted  in  the  genealogies  of  1  Chron.  ii.-xii.  It  is  also  omitted 
from  the  list  of  the  tribes  sealed  in  the  Apocalypse  (Rev.  vii.), 
and  that  because  of  its  idolatry.  '  On  this  account,'  says  Heng- 
stenberg,  '  did  Ezekiel,  ch.  xlviii.,  in  determining  the  respective 
positions  of  the  tribes,  assign  the  most  remote  place  on  the  north 
to  Dan,  at  the  farthest  distance  from  the  sanctuary,  to  which 
Judah  immediately  adjoined.  John  only  proceeds  a  step  farther, 
and  excludes  Dan  altogether.'  As  such,  then,  the  tribe  of  Dan 
has  no  place  among  the  sealed  ones  ;  and  though  we  must  by  no 
means  infer  from  this  that  individuals  belonging  to  it  are  not 
found  among  the  redeemed,  yet  are  we  admonished  by  the  fact 
of  the  sinfulness  of  idolatry,  and  warned  against  the  danger  of 
setting  up  false  gods  in  our  hearts.  '■  Little  children,  keep  your- 
selves from  idols,'  is  the  injunction  of  the  same  Apostle  who  wrote 
respecting  the  sealing  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  and  who 
afi&rms  that  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  New  Jerusalem 
'  anything  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomination, 
or  maketh  a  lie ;  but  they  only  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's 
book  of  life.' 


THE  TOMB  OF  JOSEPH. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 


Of 


THE  LOT  OF  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

^N  the  very  centre  of  the  land  of  promise-the  glory  of 
all  lands,  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey— was 
^    the  lot  of  Ephraim  and  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh. 
Joseph,  Moses  said, — 

'  Blessed  of  the  Lord  be  his  land, 

For  the  precious  things  of  heaven, 

For  the  dew, 

And  for  the  deep  that  coucheth  beneath. 
And  for  the  precious  things  brought  forth  by  the  sun, 
And  for  the  precious  things  put  forth  by  the  moon, 
And  for  the  chief  things  of  the  ancient  mountains, 
And  for  the  precious  things  of  the  lasting  hills. 
And  for  the  precious  things  of  the  earth,  and  fulness  thereof, 
And  for  the  good-will  of  Him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush : 


214  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

Let  the  blessing  come  upon  the  head  of  Joseph, 
And  upon  the  top  of  the  head  of  him  that  was  separated  from 
his  brethren. 
His  glory  is  like  the  firstling  of  the  bullock, 
And  his  horns  are  like  the  horns  of  unicorns : 
With  them  shall  he  push  the  people  together  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth ; 
And  they  are  the  ten  thousands  of  Ephraim, 
And  they  are  the  thousands  of  Manasseh.'^ 

In  striking  agreement  is  this  beautiful  language  with  the 
blessing  pronounced  upon  Joseph  by  his  aged  sire,^  so  that  we 
shall  expect  to  find  the  inheritance  of  the  tribe  one  of  great 
value ;  nor,  if  we  look  at  it  carefully,  shall  we  be  at  all  disap- 
pointed. It  is  described  in  Joshua,  chapters  xvi.  and  xvii.,  first 
as  a  whole ;  after  which,  the  portion  allotted  to  Ephraim  is 
described  more  fully.  '  It  is  remarkable,  however,'  says  Keil, 
'  that  of  the  whole  of  the  inheritance  assigned  to  the  children  of 
Joseph  only  the  southern  boundary  is  given,  whilst  nothing  is 
said  respecting  that  on  the  north.  But  this  may  be  explained 
on  the  ground  that  this  double  tribe  had  no  definite  boundary 
on  the  north,  but  merely  had  a  number  of  cities  allotted  to 
them  within  the  line  which  formed  the  boundary  of  the  tribes  of 
Asher  and  Issachar  (chap.  xvii.  10,  11) ;  and  partly  from  the 
fact  that  the  Josephites  did  not  expel  the  Canaanites  from  the 
northern  part  of  the  territory  assigned  them,  but  only  gradually 
brought  them  into  subjection,  and  dwelt  by  the  side  of,  or 
amongst  them.  Hence  the  Kmits  of  their  land  in  this  direction 
were  not  always  the  same ;  and  at .  one  time,  when  they  ex- 
pressed some  discontent  at  the  portion  allotted  to  them,  Joshua 
told  them  that  they  might  enlarge  their  possessions  if  they  could 
drive  the  Canaanites  out.' 

Of  the  southern  boundary,  then,  it  is  said,  that  commencing 
at  the  Jordan  by  the  brook  near  Jericho,  called  '  the  waters  of 

»  Deut.  xxxiii.  13-17.  2.  Gen.  xlix.  22-24. 


THE  WATERS  OF  JERICHO.  215 

Jericho  on  the  east,'  it  passed  to  the  north  of  that  city,  through 
the  desert,  or  the  Wady  Kelt,  to  the  mountains  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bethel.  Thence  it  proceeded  to  the  southern  side  of  Bethel  or 
Luz,  and  passed  along  the  territory  of  Archi  to  Ataroth,  and 
went  down  westward  to  the  coast  of  Japhleti  to  Beth-horon  the 
nether,  and  to  Gezer,  coming  out  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea.^ 

The  position  of  Jericho  has  been  already  indicated.  That  of 
Bethel,  the  ancient  Luz  (Gen.  xxviii.  19),  is  now  represented  by 
the  vi'Jage  of  Beitin,  twelve  Roman  miles  north  of  Jerusalem, 
the  ruins  of  which  occupy  '  the  whole  surface  of  the  hill-point, 
sloping  towards  the  south-east,  and  cover  a  space  of  three 
or  four  acres.' ^  From  the  Arabs,  who  had  pitched  their  tents 
on  this  spot  for  the  summer,  to  watch  their  flocks  and  fields  of 
grain,  Dr  Robinson  obtained  the  finest  milk  and  butter  he  found 
anywhere  in  Palestine.  The  land  of  the  Archites  is  supposed  to 
be  :he  district  now  called  Beni-Zeid ;  and  Ataroth  is  identical 
witl  the  modern  Atara,  four  miles  south  of  Jijilia,  situated  on 
the  summit  of  a  high  hill  in  the  midst  of  a  richly  cultivated  dis- 
trict^ Beth-horon  the  nether,  now  Beit-Ur  et  Tahta,  is  on  the 
way  from  Jerusalem  to  Ludd,  at  a  distance  from  the  former  of 
tweve  Roman  miles.  Gezer  was  probably  situated  between 
Beti-horon  and  Lydda.  The  boundary-hne  left  the  latter  city 
on  the  south,  and  running  to  the  north-west,  terminated  at  Joppa, 
the  celebrated  port. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult,  as  Keil  has  observed,  to  understand 
the  description  of  the  northern  boundary  of  Ephraim— -for  such 
it  appears  to  be— given  in  Josh.  xvi.  5-8;  and  hence  he  supposes 
thai  there  is  here  a  corruption  of  the  text.  But,  referring  the 
critical  reader  to  his  pages,  we  may  observe  that  none  of  the 
places  here  mentioned — Michmethah,  Taanath-shiloh,  Tappuah, 

^  Josh.  xvi.  1-5  -,  comp.  xviii.  11,  14. 

2  Robinson's  'Re^arches,'  vol.  i.,  p.  448.  ^  Ibid.  vol.  ii..  p.  265. 


216  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

and  the  river  Kaiiali — have  been  identified  with  certainty;^  so  that 
all  we  really  know,  is  that  the  territory  of  Joseph  was  divided 
into  two  portions,  somewhere  near  the  midst,  the  southern  portion 
being  the  lot  of  Ephraim,  and  the  northern  portion  that  of  the 
half-tribe  of  Manasseh  or  the  descendants  of  Gilead.  The  other 
half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  or  the  descendants  of  Machir,  had  already 
its  inheritance  in  the  fertile  districts  of  Gilead  and  Bashan,  on 
the  east  of  the  Jordan ;  and  now,  partly  adjoining  it  on  the  west 
of  the  river,  this  second  half  found  itself  as  well  provided  for. 
Josh.  xvii.  1,  2. 

All  the  male  descendants  of  Manasseh  had  been  satisfied 
when  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad,  whose  father  had  died  in 
the  wilderness  without  any  male  issue,  presented  themselves 
before  Joshua,  and  before  Eleazar  the  priest,  and  requested  that 
they  too  might  have  an  inheritance ;  for,  after  the  death  of  their 
father,  they  had  received  a  promise  from  Moses,  who  had  inquired 
of  the  Lord  on  their  behalf,  that  they  should  receive  a  possession 
among  their  brethren.-  The  claim  was  a  just  one;  and  Mahlah, 
Noah,  Hoglah,  Milcah,  and  Tirzah,  who  remembered  the  pro- 
mise given  them  by  Moses,  and  who  did  well  to  urge  their  right 
to  an  inheritance,  received  one  without  delay.  There  were  six 
families  of  the  Manassites ;  and  their  land  was  divided  into  ten 
portions,  five  of  which  were  assigned  to  Abiezer,  Heiek,  As';iel, 
Shechem,  and  Shemida,  and  their  descendants,  and  five  to  the 
family  of  Hepher — that  is,  to  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad— his 
son.     Josh.  xvii.  5,  6. 

Several  important  cities  were  assigned  to  Manasseh  wiihin 
the  territories  of  Asher  and  of  Issachar ;  namely,  Beth-shean, 
Ibleam,  Dor,  Endor,  Taanach,  and  Megiddo ;  but  the  Manas- 
sites  were  unable  to  drive  out  the  Canaanites  from  these  cities. 
When,  however,  the  children  of  Israel  became  strong,  they  com- 

^  See  Van  de  Velde's  '  Memoir '  on  tliese  places. 
2  Josh.  xvii.  3,  4 ;  comp.  Num.  xxvii.  1-&. 


THE  EPHRAIMITES  DISSATISFIED.  217 

pelled  the  Canaanites  to  pay  tribute,  but  did  not  utterly  drive 
them  out.i  The  children  of  Joseph,  including  both  the  Manas- 
sites  and  the  Ephraimites,  displayed  some  want  of  courage 
and  independence.  Not  satisfied  with  the  inheritance  they  had 
received,  they  came  to  Joshua,  and  urging  that  they  were  a 
numerous  people,  asked  why  but  one  lot  had  been  assigned  to 
them.  But  Joshua  replied,  '  If  thou  be  a  great  people,  then  get 
thee  up  into  the  wood-country,  and  cut  down  for  thyself  there  in 
the  land  of  the  Perizzites,  and  of  the  Rephaim,  if  Mount  Ephraim 
be  too  narrow  for  thee.'  The  region  here  referred  to  was  the 
mountainous  tract  near  Beth-shean,  which  extended  to  Endor  on 
the  coast,  and  which  was  originally  in  possession  of  the  Periz- 
zites and  the  Rephaim,  and  was  thickly  covered  with  wood. 
Go  then,  said  Joshua,  and  clear  this  country  of  the  forest.  But 
they  complained  that  they  could  not,  because  the  inhabitants  that 
dwelt  in  the  neighbouring  valley  had  chariots  of  iron.  It  was  a 
cowardly  reply ;  and  Joshua  only  repeated  his  instructions  with 
a  delicate  vein  of  irony.  '  The  captain  gives  the  same  reply  as 
before,  but  more  fully  and  explicitly.  Since,  says  he,  you  are 
a  numerous  people,  and  possess  great  strength,  unless  you  are 
very  timid  you  will  easily  obtain  possession  of  the  mountain ; 
and,  although  it  is  covered  with  wood,  you  will  clear.  And  not 
only  will  you  take  the  mountain,  but  all  adjacent  places ;  for 
you  are  furnished  with  such  resources  that  you  will  easily  con- 
quer even  the  Canaanites,  with  all  their  chariots  of  iron.'^ 
These  mountains,  which  extended  southwards  towards  the  limits 
of  the  inheritance  of  Benjamin,  consisted  of  a  range  of  limestone 
hills,  in  the  heart  of  which  were  wide  plains,  '  streams  of  running 
water,  and  continuous  tracts  of  vegetation.'  And  conquered 
they  were,  so  that  even  the  members  of  other  tribes  wandered 
to  their  heights  for  shelter  and  for  power,^  and  'Mount  Ephraim,' 

1  Josh.  xvii.  12,  13 ;  comp.  Judges  i.  27,  28. 

*  Masiuo,  quoted  by  Keil.  ^  See  Stanley,  p.  229. 


218  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

the  designation  of  the  entire  district,  became  the  scene  of  many 
a  terrible  conflict  and  of  many  a  decided  victory. 

Almost  in  the  centre  of  the  lot  of  Ephraim  the  tabernacle 
was  erected  by  Joshua,  and  araund  it  gathered  the  whole  con- 
gregation of  the  children  of  Israel.^  This  event  took  place,  as 
we  have  already  observed,  immediately  after  the  tribe  had  re- 
ceived its  inheritance ;  and  a  highly  important  event  it  proved. 
The  spot  was  called  Shiloh,  and  the  locality  was  'on  the  north 
side  of  Bethel,  on  the  east  side  of  the  highway  that  goeth  up 
from  Bethel  to  Shechem,  and  on  the  south  of  Lebonah,'^— where 
Dr  Kobinson  found  ruins  bearing  the  name  of  Seilun,  which 
answers  perfectly  to  Shilon,  the  full  form  of  the  Hebrew  name. 
'  The  position  is  in  itself  a  fine  one  for  strength,  if  it  were  ever 
fortified,  though  it  is  commanded  by  the  neighbouring  hills. 
Among  the  ruins  of  modern  houses  are  many  large  stones,  and 
some  fragments  of  columns,  showing  the  place  to  have  been  an 
ancient  site.  At  the  southern  foot  of  the  Tell  is  a  small  ruined 
mosk,  standing  partly  beneath  a  noble  oak-tree.'  ^ 

Here,  then,  the  tabernacle  was  reared ;  here  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord  remained  until  the  days  of  Eh  the  priest ; 
liere  was  an  annual  feast  to  the  Lord,  during  which  the  daugh- 
ters of  Shiloh  came  out  'to  dance  in  dances,'  who,  on  one  of 
these  occasions,  were  carried  off  by  the  neighbouring  tribe  of 
Benjamin  as  wives  (Judges  xxi.  19-23);  and  here  Samuel  was 
dedicated  to  the  Lord,  and  spent  the  days  of  his  childhood  in 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary  (1  Sam.  i.  24-26).  But  ultimately 
God  forsook  it;  for  He  'refused  the  tabernacle  of  Joseph, 
and  chose  not  the  tribe  of  Ephraim ;  but  chose  the  tribe  of 
Judah,  the  Mount  Zion  which  He  loved.'-*  The  proud  and 
haughty  spirit  displayed  by  Ephraim  in  many  instances,  was 
highly  offensive  in  the  sight  of  Heaven ;  and,  though  long  borne 

'  Josli.  xviii.  1-3.  2  Judges  xxi.  19. 

3  'Keseai'clies,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  269.  *  Ps.  Ixxviii.  67,  68 ;  Jer.  vii.  12-1-4. 


THE  VALE  OF  SHECHEM.  219 

with,  it  was  at  length  given  up,  and  its  glory  and  dominion  passed 
away. 

Twelve  miles  north  of  Shiloh  was  the  vale  of  Shechem,  a 
locality  to  which  reference  was  made  in  a  former  chapter,  in 
connection  with  the  event  that  took  place  on  Mount  Ebal  and 
Gerizim.^  We  return  to  it  again,  inasmuch  as  its  beauty 
is  illustrative  not  only  of  the  prophecy  of  Moses,  but  also 
of  that  of  the  dying  Jacob.  '  Here,'  says  Van  de  Yelde,  in  his 
description  of  this  vale,  '  there  is  no  wilderness ;  here  there  are 
no  wild  thickets,  yet  there  is  always  verdure — always  shade, 
not  of  the  oak,  the  terebinth,  and  the  caroub-tree,  but  of  the 
olive  grove,  so  soft  in  colour,  so  picturesque  in  form,  that  for 
its  sake  we  can  willingly  dispense  with  all  other  wood.  Here 
there  are  no  impetuous  mountain  torrents,  yet  there  is  water — 
water,  too,  in  more  copious  supplies  than  anywhere  else  in  the 
land ;  and  it  is  just  to  its  many  fountains,  rills,  and  water-courses 
that  this  valley  owes  its  exquisite  beauty.' ^  Now  it  will  be 
remembered  that  to  these  lovely  groves  Abraham  was  attracted 
when  first  he  entered  the  land  of  promise  ;  and  that  here  Jacob 
settled  after  he  had  crossed  the  brook  Jabbok  and  the  northern 
passes  of  the  river  Jordan ;  for  here  '  he  bought  a  parcel  of  a 
field,  where  he  had  spread  his  tent,  at  the  hand  of  the  children 
of  Hamor,  Shechem's  father,  for  a  hundred  pieces  of  money.' ^ 
And  this  parcel  of  a  field,  subsequently  wrested  from  him  by  the 
Amorite,  but  retaken  from  them  by  his  quiver  and  his  bow,  he 
gave  to  his  son  Joseph,'*  blessing  him  also  with  '  blessings  of  the 
heaven  above,  and  blessings  of  the  deep  that  heth  under.'  Here, 
in  particular,  were  '  the  precious  things  of  heaven,  of  the  dew, 
and  of  the  deep  that  coucheth  beneath  ;'  here  were  'the  precious 
things  of  the  lasting  hills,'  and  '  the  precious  things  of  the  earth, 
and  the  fulness  thereof;'  for,  though  'the  valley  is  far  from 

»  See  Chap.  VII.  ^  '  Syria  and  Palestine,'  vol.  i.,  p.  386. 

^  Gen.  xxxiii.  19.  *  Gen.  slviii.  22 ;  John  iv.  3. 


220  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

broad,  not  exceeding  in  some  places  a  few  hundred  feet,'  yet  the 
herbage  is  everywhere  rich  and  nutritious,  and  you  are  charmed 
with  the  music  of  the  murmuring  brook,  and  with  the  melody  of 
numerous  singing  birds ;  whilst,  as  you  approach  Samaria,  two 
hours  distant,  you  pass  through  gardens  plentifully  stocked  with 
many  kinds  of  fruit-trees,  '  among  the  branches  of  which  clusters 
of  grapes  hang  down  in  wreaths  and  festoons.' 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  spot  so  fertile,  and  moreover  hal- 
lowed by  its  connection  with  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs,  should 
become  the  first  capital  of  the  country  after  its  conquest  by  the 
Israelites.  '  Its  central  position  and  its  peculiar  fertility  made 
it  the  natural  seat  of  settled  habitation  in  the  north,  even  to  a 
greater  degree  than  the  vale  of  Mamre  and  Eshcol  ensured,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  same  early  privilege  for  Hebron  in  the  south.' ^ 
The  tabernacle  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant  remained  at  Shiloh, 
but  the  place  where  the  national  assemblies  met  was  Shechem. 
There  Joshua  gathered  all  the  tribes  together  prior  to  his  death  ;^ 
and  there,  at  a  much  later  period,  all  Israel  came  together  to 
make  Rehoboam  kiug.^ 

It  was  at  Shechem  that  the  Israelites  buried,  probably  with 
the  most  solemn  funeral  rites,  the  bones  of  the  patriarch  Joseph. 
The  fact  is  not  recorded  until  after  the  account  of  the  death  of 
Joshua  ;  *  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  rites  of  sepulture 
were  performed  soon  after  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  at 
Shiloh.  The  dying  patriarch  had  said  to  his  brethren,  '  God 
shall  surely  visit  you,  and  ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones  from 
hence ;'  and  being  carefully  embalmed,  his  mummy  was  pre- 
served in  the  family  of  Ephraim  through  the  long  period  of  the 
bondage,  through  the  forty  years'  wanderings  in  the  wilderness 
of  Sinai,  and  through  the  wars  of  Joshua  with  the  inhabitants  of 
Canaan ;  and  now,  at  length,  the  word  of  prophecy  was  fulfilled, 

1  Stanley,  p.  236.  2  Josh.  xxiv.  1. 

^  1  Kings  xii.  1.  *  Josh.  xxiv.  32. 


DEBORAH  THE  PROPHETESS.  221 

and  Joseph's  remains  were  deposited  in  their  last  earthly  resting- 
place. 

The  history  of  the  tribes  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  its 
connection  with  the  territory  they  occupied,  can  be  but  very 
briefly  sketched.  After  the  death  of  Joshua  the  house  of  Joseph 
went  up  against  Bethel,  which  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
Cauaanites ;  and  being  shown  the  entrance  to  it  by  one  of  its 
inhabitants,  they  entered  the  city  and  smote  it  with  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  but  suffered  the  man  and  his  family  to  depart,  who 
went  into  the  land  of  the  Hittites,  and  there  built  a  city  which 
he  called  Luz.^  Under  a  palm-tree  near  BetheF  sat  Deborah 
the  prophetess,  who  was  probably  a  woman  of  Ephraim,  and  who, 
when  the  Israelites  had  long  been  oppressed  by  Jabin,  king  of 
Canaan,  rose  up,  hke  the  modern  Joan  of  Arc,  to  rescue  her 
people  from  the  giant's  grasp.  She  and  Barak  having  gathered 
the  people  together  to  Mount  Tabor,  a  battle  ensued  with  Sisera, 
the  captain  of  Jabin's  army,  near  '  that  ancient  river,  the  river 
Kjshon ;'  and  Sisera's  army  being  discomfited,  he  himself  fled  to 
the  tent  of  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite,  who,  when  he  was 
fast  asleep  and  weary,  cruelly  put  him  to  death.  From  the  mag- 
nificent ode  of  Deborah,  sung  after  the  victory,  we  learn  that  the 
Ephraimites  and  the  Manassites  both  took  part  in  the  struggle  ; 
for  '  out  of  Ephraim  was  there  a  root  of  them  against  Amalek ;' 
'  out  of  Machir  came  down  governors.'  And  it  would  have  been 
strange  indeed  if  these  tribes,  so  near  the  field  of  battle,  had 
stood  aloof ;  and  had  they  done  so,  they  must  have  shared  in  the 
curse  pronounced  on  Meroz,  who  '  came  not  up  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.' 

At  a  later  period,  when  the  Midianites  had  entered  the  land 
of  Canaan,  and  had  pitched  their  tents  in  the  great  plain  of 
Esdraelon,  whence  they  had  made  incursions  as  far  as  to  Gaza, 
destroying  the  produce  of  the  earth,  and  compelHng  the  Israelites 

1  Judges  i.  22-26.  '  Judges  iv.  5. 


222  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

to  take  refuge  in  the  dens  and  caves  of  the  mountains,  rose  up 
Gideon,  a  Manassite ;  and  this  mighty  man  of  valour,  with  his 
three  hundred  men,  armed  only  with  trumpets,  and  with  lamps 
concealed  in  earthen  pitchers,  discomfited  the  Midianitish  host, 
though  they  were  in  number  like  grasshoppers  for  multitude. 
And  that  first  victory  was  followed  up  by  a  second ;  for  at 
Beth-shittah,  '  the  house  of  the  acacia,'  and  Abel-meholah,  '  the 
meadow  of  the  dance' — places  in  the  Jordan  valley  under  the 
mountains  of  Ephraim — the  Ephraimites,  to  whom  messages  had 
been  sent,  took  the  passages  of  the  river,  intercepted  the  flight 
of  the  princes  of  Midian,  Oreb  and  Zeeb,  and  slew  them  there. 
The  proud  spirit  of  the  Ephraimites  was  somewhat  roused,  how- 
ever, because  Gideon  had  not  called  them  into  the  conflict  earlier, 
and  they  chode  with  him  sharply.  But  he  knew  how  to  deal  with 
them,  and  said,  '  Is  not  the  gleaning  of  the  grapes  of  Ephraim 
better  than  the  vintage  of  Abi-ezer  ? '  What  had  he  done,  that  is, 
in  comparison  with  them  ?  They  had  slain  even  the  princes  of 
Midian  ;  had  he  obtained  a  victory  so  signal  ?  '  Then  their  anger 
was  abated  to  him  when  he  said  that.'  Their  vanity  was  gratified, 
and  they  cared  for  little  else.  They  thought  they  had  done  a 
greater  thing  than  Gideon,  and  therefore  they  said  no  more  !^ 

'  Eaint,  yet  pursuing  them,'  Gideon  and  his  three  hundred 
men  followed  the  rest  of  the  fugitives  (at  the  head  of  whom  were 
Zebah  and  Zalmunna)  over  the  Jordan  eastward,  and  having 
overtaken  them  beyond  Succoth  and  Peuuel,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  cities  refused  him  bread,  he  chastised  the  men  of  Succoth 
and  broke  down  the  tower  of  Penuel,  and  slew  the  princes  Zebah 
and  Zalmunna,  as  they,  by  their  own  confession,  had  slain  some  of 
the  brethren  of  Gideon  at  Mount  Tabor.  After  this  the  people 
wanted  to  make  Gideon  king  ;  but  he  declined  the  honour,  if  such 
it  was,  and  said,  '  I  will  not  rule  over  you,  neither  shall  my  son 
rule  over  you :  the  Lord  shall  rule  over  you.' 2     Sad  it  was  that 

^  Judges  viii.  1-3.  2  Judges  viii.  4-23. 


THE  PARABLE  OF  JOTHAM.  223 

such  a  man  should  relapse  into  idolatry ;  but  of  the  golden  ear- 
rings of  the  Midianites  '  he  made  an  ephod,'  implying  not  only 
the  preparation  of  a  priestly  garment,  but  the  construction  of  a 
graven  image,  which  he  set  up  in  Ophrah,  and  which  became  a 
snare  to  him  and  to  his  house.  A  natural  result  followed.  After 
his  death  his  family  was  divided  ;  and  Abimelech,  one  of  his  sons, 
slew  all  his  brethren,  Jotham  only  excepted,  and  induced  the 
people  to  proclaim  him  king  at  Shechem.  Jotham  heard  of  it, 
and  on  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim  uttered  his  remarkable  parable 
respecting  the  trees  which  desired  a  king, — a  parable  which 
proved  prophetic,  for,  three  years  afterwards,  the  men  of  She- 
chem avenged  upon  Abimelech,  their  king,  the  blood  of  the  sons 
of  Gideon  which  he  had  shed.^ 

By  another  sad  event  is  the  history  of  the  Ephraimites  stained. 
Jephthah  the  Gileadite  having  delivered  Israel  from  the  Am- 
monites, the  men  of  Ephraim,  true  to  their  character,  went  to 
him  and  demanded  why  he  had  not  called  them  to  fight  with 
Ammon,  and  threatened  that  they  would  burn  his  house  with 
fire.  A  conflict  ensued  between  the  two  tribes  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  Ephraimites  were  smitten  by  the 
Gileadites,  and  fled.  But  the  Gileadites  took  before  them  the 
passages  of  the  river,  and  intercepted  their  flight.  A  difference 
of  dialect  had  arisen  in  Israel,  and  the  Ephraimites  were  unable 
to  pronounce  the  aspirated  sound  sh ;  and  when  an  Ephraimite 
came  to  the  fords,  and,  denying  that  he  was  an  Ephraimite, 
asked  permission  to  pass  over,  the  Gileadites  said  to  him.  Say 
now  Shibboleth,  T\%^  (that  is,  a  stream  or  flood),  but  he  said 
Sibboleth,  n^hp  (that  is,  burdens),  and  was  then  slain  without 
mercy.  Thus  were  the  Ephraimites  punished  for  their  audacity, 
for  there  fell  of  them  at  that  time  forty  and  two  thousand.2 

By  the  capture  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  in  the  days  of  Eli 
the  priest,  and  by  its  subsequent  removal  to  the  hill  of  Zion, 

1  Judges  ix.  1-27  "  Jxidges  xii.  1-6. 


224  EPHRAIM  AND  MANASSEH. 

through  the  instrumentality  of  David  the  king,^  the  pride  of 
Ephraim  was  once  more  humbled.  But  soon  after  the  revolt  of 
the  ten  tribes,  the  erection  of  the  city  of  Samaria  by  Omri  gave 
renown  to  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  ;  for  that  city  was  situated  in  the 
very  heart  of  their  territory,  on  an  oblong  hill,  six  miles  from 
Shechem,  and  almost  on  the  edge  of  the  great  maritime  plain. 
'  This  was  the  mountain  Shomron  (corrupted  through  the  Chaldee 
"Shemrin  "  into  the  Greek  "Samaria")  which  Omri  bought  of 
Shemer  for  the  great  sum  of  two  talents  of  silver,  and  built 
on  the  mountain,  and  called  the  name  of  the  city  which  he 
built  Shomron  (or  Samaria),  after  the  name  of  Shemer,  owner  of 
the  mountain.'  '  What  Omri  in  all  probabiKty  built  as  a  mere 
palatial  residence,  became  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  instead  of 
Shechem.  It  was  as  though  Versailles  had  taken  the  place  of 
Paris,  or  Windsor  of  London.  But  in  this  case  the  change  was 
effected  by  the  admirable  choice  of  Omri,  in  selecting  a  position 
which,  as  has  been  truly  observed,  combined  in  a  union  not  else- 
where found  in  Palestine,  strength,  beauty,  and  fertility.  Its 
fertility  and  beauty  are  shared  to  a  great  extent  with  Shechem, 
in  this  respect  the  common  characteristics  of  these  later  capitals, 
all  probably  alike  included  in  the  bitter  praise  of  the  prophet, 
"Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of  Ephraim, 
whose  glorious  beauty  is  a  fading  flower,  which  are  on  the  head 
of  the  fat  'ravines'  of  them  which  are  overcome  with  wine." 
But  having  these  advantages,  which  Shechem  had,  it  had  others 
which  Shechem  had  not.  Situated  on  its  steep  height,  in  a  plain 
itself  girt  in  by  hills,  it  was  enabled,  not  less  promptly  than 
Jerusalem,  to  resist  the  successive  assaults  made  upon  it  by  the 
Syrian  and  Assyrian  armies.  The  first  were  baffled  altogether ; 
the  second  took  it  only  after  a  three  years'  siege,  that  is,  three 
times  as  long  as  that  which  reduced  Jerusalem.' - 

1  2  Sam.  vi.  1-12. 

2  Stanley,  p.  242 ;  comp.  Van  de  Yelde,  vol.  i.,  p.  374,  etc. 


SAMARIA.  225 

Samaria,  or  rather  Sebaste,  its  successor,  built  by  Herod,  is 
now  represented  by  considerable  remains,  which  consist  princi- 
pally of  colonnades,  the  grandest  of  which  runs  along  the  south 
side  of  the  hill,  down  a  broad  terrace,  which  descends  rapidly 
towards  the  present  village.  Along  this  line  are  nearly  one 
hundred  columns,  and  many  others  lie  scattered  about  on  lower 
terraces.  The  glory  of  Ephraim  has  passed  away,  to  return  not 
again  until  the  millennial  age,  when  the  scattered  tribes  of  Israel 
shall  be  restored;  when  'Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Judah,  and 
Judah  shall  not  vex  Ephraim;'  when  amity  and  peace  shall 
prevail  among  all  nations,  and  the  noise  of  battle  shall  be  heard 
no  more. 


MOUNT  TABOR, 


CHAPTER   XY. 


THE    LOT    OF    ISSACHAR    AND    ZEBULUN. 


IpEXT  to  the  mountains  of  Ephraim,  and  to  the  territory 
W,^  assigned  to  Manasseh,  lies  the  vast  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
or  Jezreel,  extending,  in  length,  from  Mount  Carmel 
on  the  west,  to  the  Jordan  on  the  east ;  and,  in  breadth,  from 
En-gannim  on  the  south,  to  Mount  Tabor  on  the  north.  The 
eastern  part  of  this  plain  fell  to  the  lot  of  Issachar  ;  the  western 
portion  was  assigned  to  Zebulun. 

Of  the  sixteen  cities  which  belonged  to  Issachar,  mentioned 
in  Joshua  xix.  17-22,  nine  are  altogether  unknown  ;  but  the  sites 
of  the  remaining  ^seven  have  been  identified,  and  by  means  of 
these,  and  the  boundary  lines  of  the  neighbouring  tribes,  the  limits 
of  Issachar's  inheritance  can  be  fixed  with  tolerable  accuracy. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON.  227 

Commencing  on  the  western  side  of  the  Jordan,  a  little  south 
of  Bethshan,  which  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  the  border 
passed  under  Mount  Gilboa,  and  swept  round  the  foot  of  the 
range  called  the  mountains  of  Ephraim  to  En-gannim ;  thence 
running  north-westward  to  the  foot  of  the  range  of  Carmel,  it 
crossed  the  ri^er  Kishon,  turned  to  the  east  and  ran  to  Mount 
Tabor,  and  thence  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  a  little  below  the 
Lake  of  Gennesaret. 

En-gannim,  which  was  afterwards  assigned  to  the  Levites, 
was  identical  with  the  Ginnea  of  Josephus,  and  with  the  present 
town  of  Jenin,  which  lies  on  the  southern  edge  of  the  plain,  '  in 
the  midst  of  gardens  of  fruit-trees,  which  are  surrounded  by- 
hedges  of  the  prickly  pear.'^  Six  miles  northward  of  it  is 
Jezreel,  now  Zerin,  on  the  western  extremity  of  Mount  Gilboa. 
It  '  lies  comparatively  high,  and  commands  a  wide  and  noble 
view,  extending  down  the  broad,  low  valley  on  the  east  to  Bei- 
san,  and  to  the  mountains  beyond  the  Jordan ;  while  towards 
the  west  it  includes  the  whole  great  plam  quite  to  the  long  ridge 
of  Carmel.  It  is  a  most  magnificent  site  for  a  city  ;  which,  being 
itself  thus  a  conspicuous  object  in  every  part,  would  naturally 
give  its  name  to  the  whole  region.  There  could  be  little  ques- 
tion that,  in  and  around  Zerin,  we  had  before  us  the  city,  the 
plain,  the  valley,  and  the  fountain  of  the  ancient  Jezreel.'^  The 
name  Jezreel,  f'Xyip,  signifies,  '  God  is  sowing,'  and  indicates  the 
richness  of  the  neighbouring  soil.  Here  was  the  royal  residence 
of  Ahab,  and  here  the  vineyard  of  Naboth,  which  the  haughty 
monarch  demanded  that  he  might  turn  it  into  a  garden  of  herbs. 

Nearly  six  miles  north  of  Jezreel  is  Shunem,  now  Solam, 
near  to  which,  in  all  probability,  were  Haphraim  and  Shihon. 
Chesulloth  is  supposed  to  be  represented  by  the  village  of 

1  Kobinson's  '  Eesearclies,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  215  ;  and  Wilson's  '  Lands  of  the  Bible,' 
vol.  ii.,  p.  84. 

2  Kobinson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  320. 


228  ISSACHAR  AND  ZEBTJLUN. 

Iksal,  the  Xaloth  of  Joseplms,  situated  in  a  rich  and  fertile  plain 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Tabor,  on  which  mount  stood  the  city 
Tabor,  which  must  have  belonged  partly  to  Issachar  and  partly 
to  Zebulun,  as  it  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  sixteen  cities  of  the 
former  tribe,  but  as  given  to  the  Levites  by  the  latter. 

Of  the  territory  in  which  these  cities  stood  it  seems  impossible 
to  speak  in  terms  too  high.  The  mountains  which  rise  up  from 
the  plain — Gilboa,  Tabor,  and  the  Little  Hermon — are  the  birth- 
places of  innumerable  springs  and  rivulets,  which,  running  east 
or  west,  spread  beauty  and  fertility  through  their  tracks  ;  and  the 
soil,  being  rich  and  loamy,  is  productive  of  the  choicest  vegeta- 
tion, so  that  '  the  aspect  of  the  plain  in  spring  time  is  that  of  a  vast 
waving  corn-field,  olive-trees  here  and  there  springing  from  it.* 
One  of  its  rivers  is  the  Kishon,  which  takes  its  rise  in  Mount 
Tabor,^  and,  fed  also  from  other  sources,  winds  round  to  the 
north-west,  and,  after  running  about  seven  miles,  empties  itself 
into  the  Mediterranean  near  Mount  Carmel.  It  was  here  that 
the  battle  took  place,  already  referred  to,  between  the  Israelites, 
under  the  command  of  Deborah  and  Barak,  and  the  host  of 
Sisera.  '  And  the  princes  of  Issachar  were  with  Deborah  ;  even 
Issachar,  and  also  Barak:  he  was  sent  on  foot  into  the  valley.'^ 
They  met  together  on  the  broad  summit  of  Mount  Tabor,  for  it 
is  said,  '  Barak  went  down  from  Tabor,  and  ten  thousand  men 
after  him ; '  whilst  Sisera,  with  his  nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron, 
took  up  his  position  in  the  valley  of  Megiddo ;  and  there  the 
terrible  conflict  took  place,  and  '  the  stars  in  their  courses  fought 
against  Sisera.'  *  There  came  down  from  heaven,'  says  Josephus, 
'  a  great  storm,  with  a  vast  quantity  of  rain  and  hail ;  and  the 
wind  blew  the  rain  in  the  face  of  the  Canaanites,  and  so  darkened 
their  eyes,  that  their  arrows  and  their  slings  were  of  no  advantage 
to  them,  nor  would  the  coldness  of  the  air  permit  the  soldiers  to 
make  use  of  their  swords ;  while  this  storm  did  not  so  much  in- 

'  See  Bobinson's  '  Eceearclies,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  364.  ^  judges  v.  15-^1. 


THE  KISHON.  229 

commode  the  Israelites,  because  it  came  in  their  backs.'^  Mean- 
while the  torrent  of  the  Kishon  was  suddenly  swollen,  as  it  is 
wont  to  be  by  heavy  rains,  and  pouring  down  the  valley  in  which 
the  hosts  of  Sisera  lay,  it  swept  them  down  before  it,  and  '  they 
had  no  alternative  but  to  make  for  the  narrow  pass  which  led  to 
Harosheth.'  '  The  space,  however,  becomes  more  and  more 
narrow,  until  within  the  pass  it  is  only  a  few  rods  wide.  There, 
horses,  chariots,  and  men  become  mixed  in  horrible  confusion, 
jostling  and  treading  down  one  another;  and  the  river,  here 
swifter  and  deeper  than  above,  runs  zigzag  from  side  to  side  of 
the  vale,  until,  just  before  it  reaches  the  castle  of  Harosheth,  it 
dashes  sheer  up  against  the  perpendicular  base  of  Carmel.  There 
is  no  longer  any  possibihty  of  avoiding  it.  Rank  upon  rank  of 
the  flying  host  plunge  madly  in,  those  behind  crushing  those 
before  deeper  and  deeper  in  the  tenacious  mud.  They  stick  fast, 
are  overwhelmed,  and  swept  away  by  thousands.' 2 

In  the  same  locality  Gideon  also  gained  his  victory;  and 
here  too  it  was  that,  at  a  later  period,  the  prophets  of  Baal 
were  slain  by  command  of  the  prophet  Elijah,  whence  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  present  name  of  the  Kishon,  Nahr  Mukatta,  or 
the  river  of  slaughter,  took  its  rise.  But  many  have  been  the 
conflicts  witnessed  on  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  both  in  ancient 
and  in  modern  times.  It  has  been,  in  fact,  the  great  battle-field 
of  Palestine,  and  it  may  yet  again  be  the  scene  of  other  contests 
— contests  which  shall  tell  upon  the  future  destinies  of  the  land. 

Moses  said  of  Zebuluu  and  Issachar,  '  Rejoice,  Zebulun,  in  thy 
going  out ;  and,  Issachar,  in  thy  tents.  They  shall  call  the  people 
unto  the  mountain  ;  there  shall  they  offer  sacrifices  of  righteous- 
ness :  for  they  shall  suck  of  the  abundance  of  the  seas,  and  of 
treasures  hid  in  the  sand.'  '  Issachar,'  said  Jacob,  '  is  a  strong 
ass  couching  down  between  two  burdens  :  and  he  saw  that  rest 
was  good,  and  the  land  that  it  was  pleasant;  and  bowed  his 

1  Antiq.  v.  v.  4.  -  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  43G. 


230  ISSACHAR  AND  ZEBULUN. 

shoulder  to  bear,  and  became  a  servant  to  tribute.'  The  latter 
words  especially  are  strikingly  descriptive  of  the  character  of  the 
tribe,  which,  though  its  numbers  were  considerable — amounting 
at  the  conquest  to  64,300 — dwelt,  and  rejoiced  to  dwell  in  tents, 
living  a  nomadic  life,  and  seldom  taking  part  in  the  great  strug- 
gles of  the  nation.  One  of  the  judges,  Tola,  was  of  the  tribe  of 
Issachar ;  but  we  know  nothing  of  him  beyond  the  fact  that  he 
dwelt  at  Shamir,  in  Mount  Ephraim.  Between  two  burdens,  or 
folds,  as  the  word  signifies,  Issachar  couched  as  a  strong-boned 
ass,  such  as  was  used  in  the  work  of  the  fields ;  and  seeing  that 
rest  was  good,  and  the  land  that  it  was  pleasant,  he  threw  aside 
the  military  character  and  betook  himself  to  a  pastoral  and 
agrarian  life.  To  such  an  extent  was  this  the  case,  that  the  men 
of  Issachar  submitted  to  pay  tribute  to  surrounding  nations, 
whilst  to  their  neighbours  the  Manassites  they  gave  up  Beth- 
shean,  Ibleam,  Taanach,  and  Megiddo,  perhaps  because  they 
could  not  take  them  from  the  Canaanites  themselves,  and  thought 
that  the  Manassites  would  be  more  successful. 

But  all  this  was  characteristic  of  human  nature.  When  men 
CAN  live  in  ease,  they  will.  Who  that  inherits  a  magnificent 
estate  would  not  far  rather  dwell  upon  it,  cultivating  its  soil, 
developing  its  resources,  and  enjoying  its  productions,  than  go 
into  the  battle-field  and  expose  himself  to  the  hardships  of  a 
soldier's  life  ?  A  desire  for  military  fame,  or  a  sense  of.  duty  to 
his  country,  will  often  induce  a  man  to  take  the  latter  course ; 
but  few  there  are  who  would  not  prefer  the  former,  and  to  whom 
it  would  not  be  a  trial  and  a  task  to  exchange  a  home  of  quiet- 
ness for  a  scene  of  turmoil  and  of  strife. 

At  a  later  period,  however,  the  men  of  Issachar  were  of  a 
different  spirit,  for  it  is  said,  that  'among  all  the  families  of 
Issachar  were  valiant  men  of  might,  reckoned  in  all,  by  their 
genealogies,  fourscore  and  seven  thousand.'  ^    Moreover,  of  the 

^  1  Chi-on.  vii.  5. 


THE  CHARACTEK  OF  ISSACHAK.  231 

numbers  who  went  up  to  Hebron,  ready  armed,  to  make  David 
the  king,  were  men  of  Issachar  <  that  had  understanding  of  the 
times,  to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do :  the  heads  of  them  were 
two  hundred;  and  all  their  brethren  were  at  their  command- 
ment.'^ According  to  Josephus,  there  were  of  the  armed  men  of 
Issachar  twenty  thousand ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  those  who 
had  understanding  of  the  times  were  men  who  were  distinguished 
for  their  skill  in  astronomical  and  physical  science,  by  which 
they  were  enabled  to  predict  the  course  of  events.  '  The  learn- 
ing of  this  tribe  is  no  doubt  particularly  referred  to  here,  because 
it  was  matter  of  great  importance  that  not  the  mihtary  tribes,  but 
the  tribe  which  was  celebrated  for  its  scientific  attainments,  and  also 
for  its  sound  judgment  in  political  questions,  declared  for  David.'^ 

Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  Baasha,  one  of  the  kings  of 
Israel,  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Issachar ;  but  he  was  a  fierce 
and  warlike  man,  and  obtained  the  throne  by  the  murder  of  his 
predecessor.  It  was  far  more  to  the  honour  of  the  tribe  that  in 
the  days  of  Hezekiah  many  of  them  came,  with  a  multitude  of 
Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Zebulun,  to  keep  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  at  Jerusalem.  Long  had  they  been  separated  from  their 
brethren  of  the  south,  and  many  years  had  elapsed  since  they 
celebrated  the  Passover ;  so  that  they  seem  to  have  forgotten 
what  was  required  of  them,  and  '  had  not  cleansed  themselves, 
but  ate  the  Passover  otherwise  than  it  was  written.'  Hezekiah, 
however,  prayed  for  them,  and  said,  '  The  good  Lord  pardon 
every  one  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  God,  the  Lord  God 
of  his  fathers,  though  he  be  not  cleansed  according  to  the  purifi- 
cation of  the  sanctuary.'  His  prayer  was  heard,  and  the  Lord 
healed  the  people. 

Issachar  and  Zebulun  were  closely  allied  by  birth ;  and,  as 
tribes,  they  were  not  separated,  for  the  inheritance  of  the  latter 
adjoined  that  of  the  former  on  the  north. 

»  1  ChroD.  xii.  32.  ^  Bertheau,  Comraentaiy  on  1  Chion. 


232  ISSACHAR  AND  ZEBULUN. 

Its  boundaries  are  described  in  Joshua  xix.  10-16.  It  com- 
menced a  little  below  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Lake  of 
Gennesaret,  and  proceeded  westward  towards  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  through  Sarid,  and  as  far  as  Maralah, — places,  unfortunately, 
not  now  known.  It  is  further  described  as  reaching  to  Dab- 
basheth — '  the  camel's  hump ;'  supposed,  therefore,  to  have  been 
upon  the  heights  of  Carmel;*and  to  the  stream  that  is  before 
Jokneam, — in  all  probability,  the  Kishon.  Such  is  the  general 
boundary  line  on  the  south ;  respecting  which  it  is  stated  further, 
that  from  Sarid  it  turned  eastward  toward  the  sun-rising,  unto 
the  border  of  Chisloth-tabor,  and  then  went  to  Daberath,  and  up 
to  Japhia, — places  at  the  foot  or  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Tabor. 
In  the  district  were  also  Gittah-hepher,  or  Gath-hepher,  the 
birth-place  of  the  prophet  Jonah  (now  represented  by  the  village 
el  Meshad,  about  five  miles  north-east  of  Nazareth) ;  Ittah-kazin, 
which  is  not  now  known ;  and  Remmon-methoar,  now  Runman- 
neh,  seven  miles  north  of  Nazareth.  Neah,  Hanuathon,  and 
the  valley  of  Jiphthah-el  are  not  known,  but  these  places  were 
on  the  northern  boundary.  Of  the  five  cities  mentioned  in  verse 
15,  none  have  been  discovered  except  Bethlehem,  now  Beitlahm, 
half  way  between  Nazareth  and  Mount  Carmel ;  and  three  others 
— Kartah,  Dimnah,  and  Kitron,  mentioned  as  belonging  to  the 
tribe  of  Zebulun  in  chap.  xxi.  34,  or  in  Judges  i.  30 — are  not 
included  in  this  enumeration. 

'  Zebulun,'  said  Jacob,  '  shall  dwell  at  the  haven  of  the  sea ; 
and  he  shall  be  for  an  haven  of  ships :  and  his  border  shall  be 
unto  Zidon.'  And  of  Issachar  and  Zebulun  Moses  said,  '  They 
suck  of  the  abundance  of  the  seas,  and  of  treasures  hid  in  the 
sand.'  Remarkably  were  the  prophecies  fulfilled;  for,  though  the 
territory  of  Zebulun  did  not  reach  to  the  coast  of  th€  Mediter- 
ranean, it  extended  towards  it,  and  on  the  east  it  embraced  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  shores  of  that  celebrated  lake  on 
which,  in  after  times,  so  many  incidents  occurred  in  connection 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE.  233 

with  the  history  of  our  Lord.  We  can  easily  understand  the 
expression,  '  His  borders  shall  reach  unto  Zidon,'  as  signifying 
that  it  should  extend  towards  the  land  of  the  Phoenicians,  of 
which  Zidon,  and  not  Tyre,  was  at  that  time  the  capital.  And 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  as  tradition  states,  the 
tribe  of  Zebulun  traded  on  the  sea  in  purple  dyes,  and  perhaps 
employed  themselves  in  the  manufacture  and  exportation  of  glass; 
for  is  not  glass  a  treasure  hid  in  the  sand  ?  It  has  been  sup- 
posed, indeed,  that  glass  is  a  modern  discovery ;  but  this  is  a 
mistake,  as  it  was  made  in  Egypt  as  early  as  the  times  of  Joseph ; 
for  the  process  of  glass-blowing  is  represented  on  the  paintings 
at  Beni-Hassan,  belonging  to  the  times  of  Osirtasen  I.,  and  glass 
bottles  have  been  found  in  the  tombs  of  the  kings,  bearing  the 
names  of  the  Pharaohs  of  that  period.^ 

The  tribe  of  Zebulun  was  also  celebrated  for  its  scribes; 
for  '  out  of  Zebulun,'  said  Deborah,  '  came  they  that  handle  the 
pen  of  the  writer.' ^  Their  commercial  pursuits  would  almost 
compel  them  to  the  study  of  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and  it  ap- 
pears that,  as  early  as  the  times  of  the  Judges,  they  had  ac- 
quired distinction  in  this  line  of  business.  Yet,  when  necessary, 
they  could  lay  aside  the  pen  for  the  sword ;  for  they  were  '  a 
people  who  jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the  death  in  the  high 
places  of  the  field.' ^  This  is  high  praise,  and  leads  us  to  think 
of  the  Zebulunites  as  rushing,  during  the  battle  on  the  Kishon, 
into  the  very  midst  of  the  enemy,  and,  utterly  fearless  of  their 
lives,  pursuing  them  when  pursuit  was  no  longer  necessary. 

The  population  of  this  tribe  was  numerous,  amounting,  at 
the  conquest,  to  60,500 ;  yet  they  were  not  able  to  drive  out  the 
Canaanites  from  their  territories ;  '  but  the  Canaanites  dwelt 
among  them,  and  became  tributaries.'^  The  only  judge  of  this 
tribe  was  Elou,  who  'judged  Israel  ten  years ;'  the  only  prophet 

'  See  Wilkinson's  '  Popular  Account,'  ii.,  pp.  58-60. 

2  Judges  V.  14.  ^  Judges  v.  18.  *  Judges  i.  30. 


234  ISSACHAR  A^D  ZEBULUN. 

was  Jonah,  who  was  sent  to  preach  unto  the  Ninevites.  But  it  is 
probable  that  some  of  our  Lord's  disciples,  the  fishermen  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  belonged  to  it ;  though  of  this  we  have  no  certain 
proof. 

Of  the  Zebulunites  of  David's  time  a  noble  testimony  is  given. 
There  went  up  to  him  to  Hebron,  'of  Zebulun,  such  as  went 
forth  to  battle,  expert  in  war,  with  all  instruments  of  war,  fifty- 
thousand,  which  could  keep  rank:  they  were  not  of  a  double 
heart.' ^  The  tribe,  then,  had  retained  its  military  character, 
and  possessed  qualifications  of  the  highest  order.  Soldiers  who 
can  keep  rank,  who  are  expert  in  the  use  of  warlike  instruments, 
and  who  do  not  waver  in  the  hour  of  battle,  will  be  prized  by 
any  general  or  monarch;  and  such  were  the  men  who,  from 
among  the  Zebulunites,  ralHed  round  the  standard  of  David  the 
king.  In  the  68th  Psalm — a  Psalm  written,  as  Hengstenberg 
thinks,  on  the  occasion  of  the  removal  of  the  ark  to  Mount 
Zion — it  is  intimated  by  David  that  the  princes  of  Zebulun  were 
there;  and  princes  in  character  must  the  fifty  thousand  have 
been;  nor  can  we  wonder  that  their  name  should  be  held  in 
honour. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  refrain  from  the  mention  of  one 
town  situated  in  the  territory  of  Zebulun,  belonging  though  it 
does  to  a  later  period  of  history.  Nazareth  was  there,  the  never- 
to-be-forgotten  spot  where  He,  of  whom  Joshua  was  a  type, 
spent  the  days  of  His  childhood  and  His  youth.  It  derives  all 
its  importance  from  this  fact,  for  it  is  nowhere  mentioned  either 
in  the  Old  Testament  or  by  Josephus ;  and  it  was  so  obscure 
and  insignificant  a  place,  that  Nathanael,  himself  a  Galilean,  in 
which  province  it  stood,  said,  '  Can  there  any  good  thing  .come 
out  of  Nazareth?'  But  it  was  immortalized  by  its  connection 
with  the  early  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  and  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  it  has  been  deemed  as  second  in  interest  only 

1  1  Chron.  xii.  33. 


MOUNT  TABOR.  235 

to  Bethlehem,  where  Christ  was  born.  It  is  situated  six  miles 
W.N.W.  of  Mount  Tabor,  hid  in  a  narrow  vale,  a  picture  of 
quietness  -and  repose.  Near  to  it  are  Nain,  En-dor,  Deburieh, 
and  Yaffa;  the  two  latter  places  corresponding  with  the  Da- 
beroth  and  Japhia  which  we  have  already  mentioned. 

Of  the  general  features  of  this  neighbourhood,  travellers 
speak  in  the  highest  terms.  '  Fifteen  gently  rounded  hills  seem 
as  if  they  had  met  to  form  an  enclosure '  for  this  beautiful  basin ; 
'they  rise  round  it  like  the  edge  of  a  shell,  to  guard  it  from  intru- 
sion. It  is  a  rich  and  beautiful  field,  in  the  midst  of  these  green 
hills,  abounding  in  gay  flowers,  in  fig-trees,  small  gardens,  hedges 
of  the  prickly  pear ;  and  the  dense  rich  grass  affords  an  abun- 
dant pasture.'^  With  Mount  Tabor  itself,  and  the  prospect 
from  its  summit,  Dr  Robinson  was  in  raptures.  It  is,  he  says, 
'  a  beautiful  mountain,  wholly  of  limestone ;  bearing  among  the 
Arabs,  like  so  many  other  mountains,  only  the  general  name, 
Jebel  et  Tur.  It  stands  out  alone  towards  the  south-east  from 
the  high  land  around  Nazareth ;  while  the  north-eastern  arm  of 
the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  sweeps  round  its  base,  and  extends 
far  to  the  north,  forming  a  broad  tract  of  table  land,  bordering 
upon  the  deep  Jordan  valley  and  the  basin  of  the  Lake  of 
Tiberias.'^  Its  height  is  about  one  thousand  feet  above  the 
plain ;  its  summit  is  broad,  and  upon  it  are  ruins  belonging  to 
different  ages.  The  view,  as  described  by  Dr  Robinson  and 
others,  is  extensive  and  magnificent ;  and  if  the  men  of  Issachar 
and  Zebulun,  when  they  took  possession  of  their  lands,  climbed 
this  mountain,  and  took  a  survey  of  their  country  and  of  the 
adjoining  territories,  they  would  see  cause  to  be  well  satisfied 
with  the  lot  they  had  obtained.  Indeed,  the  providence  of  God 
was  over  each  of  the  tribes ;  and  not  by  chance  did  the  inherit- 

^  Stanley,  p.  361 ;  and  Kichardson.     See  also  '  The  Land  and  the  Book.' 
2  '  Eesearches,'  vol.  ii.,  p.  351,  etc    See  also  '  The  Tent  and  the  Khan,'  by 
Dr  Stewart,  pp.  430-5. 


236  ISSACHAK  AND  ZEBULUN. 

aiice  of  any  one  of  them  turn  up,  but  by  His  special  guidance 
and  direction.  Nor  is  it  by  chance  that  the  lot  of  any  man  falls . 
to  him ;  but  He  who  gave  Canaan  to  the  Israehtes,  and  placed 
Judah  in  the  south  of  it  and  Zebulun  towards  the  north,  gives 
to  each  nation  its  country,  and  to  each  family  of  each  nation  its 
estate  therein,  whether  that  estate  consist  of  broad  acres  or  of  a 
humble  cottage  without  a  foot  of  land. 


SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


CHAPTER   XYI. 


THE  LOT  OF  NAPHTALI  AND  ASHER. 


NAPHTALI,  satisfied  with  favour,  and  full  with  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord  ;  possess  thou  the  west  and  the 
south.' ^  Such  were  the  brief  but  significant  words  of 
Moses  relative  to  the  tribe  which  sprang  from  the  second  of  the 
sons  of  Bilhah.  The  lot  of  this  tribe  fell  to  the  north  of  Zebulun, 
and  extended  from  the  tribe  of  Asher  on  the  west,  to  the  Jordan 
toward  the  east.  Its  exact  boundaries  cannot  now  be  ascertained, 
as  the  places  mentioned  in  Joshua  xix.  33,  Heleph,  Adami,  Nekeb, 
Jabneel,  and  Lakum,  are  unknown;  but  supposing,  with  Keil, 
Allon  Zaanannim,  '  the  oak  by  Zaanannira,'  to  be  the  same  as 
that  mentioned  in  Judges  iv.  11,  with  the  further  explanation, 
'  which  is  by  Kedesh,'  then,  as  Kadssh,  or  Kedesh,  was  situated 
on  the  hills  north-west  of  Lake  Huleh,  the  boundary  line  in  Joshua 
xix.  33  is  described  as  running  from  the  south-west  to  the  north- 
east up  to  the  sources  of  the  Jordan.     Josephus  says,  that  the 

1  Deut.  xxxiii.  23.     By  the  south  in  this  passage,  is  probably  meant  the 
south  of  the  northern  Dan,  which  had  just  been  mentioned  in  the  previous  verse. 


238  NAPHTALI  AND  ASHER. 

territory  of  Naphtali  extended,  in  that  direction,  '  as  far  as  the 
city  of  Damascus  and  the  Upper  Galilee,  unto  Mount  Libanus 
and  the  fountains  of  the  Jordan.'^  From  the  Jordan  the  bound- 
ary turned  westward  to  Aznoth-tabor,  and  thence  to  Hukkok, — 
supposed  by  Dr  Robinson  and  others  to  be  identical  with  a 
village  called  Yakuk,  situated  on  the  northern  border  of  the  plain 
of  Wady  Sellameh,  about  seven  miles  west  of  the  Lake  of  Gen- 
nesaret.^  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  eastern 
boundary  of  Naphtali  was  identical  with  the  western  shore  of  the 
above  lake  until  it  joined  the  boundary  of  Zebulun.  From  Asher 
on  the  west  the  southern  boundary  of  Naphtali  was  identical 
with  the  northern  boundary  of  Zebulun,  extending  Ho  Judah 
upon  Jordan  toward  the  sun-rising.'^ 

But  what  can  be  the  meaning  of  this  latter  expression? 
How  could  the  boundary  of  Naphtali  extend  towards  the  terri- 
tory of  Judah  ?  The  only  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question 
has  been  furnished  by  Kaumer,  referred  to  by  Keil,  and  is  sub- 
stantially the  following  : — On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  and 
of  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret  were  a  number  of  '  villages  of  tents,' 
which  were  taken  by  one  Jair,  and  named,  after  himself,  *  Havoth- 
Jair,'  or  '  Chavvoth- Jair,'  z.e.,  villages  or  towns  of  Jair.^  This 
Jair  was,  on  his  mother's  side,  descended  from  Manasseh  ;  but, 
on  his  father's  side,  he  was  a  descendant  of  Judah.^  Now, 
according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  'every  one  of  the  children  of 
Israel  kept  himself  to  the  inheritance  of  the  tribe  of  his  fathers  ;' 
and  hence  the  possessions  of  Jair  were  reckoned  as  belonging,  not 
to  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  but  to  that  of  Judah,  and  thus  it  is 
that  the  territory  of  Naphtali,  which  was  just  opposite  to  Havoth- 
Jair,  is  said  to  extend  '  to  Judah  towards  the  sun-rising.' 

Of  the  sixteen  fenced  cities  named  in  Joshua  xix.  35-39, 
Ziddim,  Zer,  Adamah,  Ramah,  Edrei,  En-hazor,  Iron,  Horem, 

*  Antiq.  v.  1,  22.  -  '  Eesearches,'  vol.  iii.,  p.  81.  ^  jogi^.  ^ix,  3i. 

*  Num.  xxxii.  41.  5  i  Cliron.  ii.  21,  22. 


UAMMATH— HAZOR.  239 

Beth-anath,  and  Beth-shemesh,  are  altogether  unknown  ;  but  of 
the  remainder  some  few  traces  have  been  discovered,  which  it  will 
be  sufficient  briefly  to  mention. 

Hammath,  according  to  the  Talmud,  was  the  same  as  the 
warm  baths  a  little  south  of  Tiberias :  hence  the  name,  which 
is  said  to  signify  thermae,  or  springs.  These  warm  fountains 
are  mentioned  both  by  Pliny  and  Josephus ;  Dr  Robinson  and 
Dr  Wilson  visited  them;  and  Dr  Stewart  speaks  of  ruins  a 
little  to  the  south  of  them.  Rakkath  and  Chinnereth  were  not 
far  distant.  Speaking  of  these  fountains,  Dr  Thomson  says : 
'I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  was  the  Hammath  given  to 
Naphtali;  and  if  so,  then  Rakkath,  mentioned  in  connection 
with  it,  may  have  been  the  ancestor  of  Karak,  at  the  outgoing 
of  the  Jordan.  Tiberias  itself  vmy  occupy  the  site  of  Chinnereth, 
from  which  the  lake  derived  its  primitive  name,  as  it  now  gets 
that  of  Tiberias  from  its  successor.  We  throw  out  these  sup- 
positions without  vouching  for  their  truth,  or  attempting  to  esta- 
blish it.  I  cannot  doubt,  however,  that  there  was  a  city  near 
Tiberias  far  older  and  more  splendid  than  that  built  by  Herod. 
The  granite  columns  mingled  among  the  now  visible  ruins  must 
have  an  antiquity  much  higher  than  the  first  century  of  our  era.'^ 

Hazor  is  identified  by  Dr  Thomson  with  the  capital  of  Jabiu, 
which,  he  says,  was  situated  to  the  north-west  of  the  Lake 
Huleh, — an  opinion  with  which  Keil  agrees  ;  but  Yan  de  Yelde 
supposes  Hazor  to  be  identical  with  Tell-Hazur,  south-east  of 
Rameh ;  whilst  Robinson  fixes  the  site  on  Tell-Khureibeh,  south 
of  Kades.  Of  this  latter  place,  Kades  or  Kadesh,  which  became 
one  of  the  cities  of  refuge,  we  shall  speak  hereafter.  The  only 
city  left  is  Migdal-el,  probably  the  Magdala  of  Matthew  xv.  39, 
now  a  wretched  little  Mohammedan  village  called  Mejdal,  on  the 
western  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret. 

Of  the  territory  of  Naphtali,  Josephus  and  others  speak  in 

^  '  The  Land  and  tlie  Book,'  pp.  395-G. 


240  NAPHTALI  AND  ASHER. 

the  highest  terms.  '  The  country  that  lieth  ov^er  agamst  this 
lake  hath  the  same  name  as  Gennesareth ;  its  nature  is  wonderful 
as  well  as  its  beauty ;  its  soil  is  so  fruitful,  that  all  sort  of  trees 
grow  upon  it ;  and  the  inhabitants,  accordingly,  plant  all  sorts 
of  trees  there.' ^  '  Naphtali  was,'  indeed,  '  satisfied  with  favour, 
and  full  with  the  blessings  of  the  Lord  ;'  for  in  his  territory,  as 
Josephus  further  says,  '  there  was  a  happy  contention  of  the 
seasons,  as  if  every  one  of  them  laid  claim  to  the  country.' 
There  grew  the  walnut,  which  requires  a  bracing  atmosphere ; 
there  the  palm,  which  flourishes  best  in  heat ;  and  there  the  fig, 
which  a  temperate  air  suits  best.  To  dwell  upon  the  beauties  of 
the  Lakes  of  Gennesaret  and  Huleh  would  lead  us  beyond  our 
limits ;  and  we  must  therefore  refer  our  readers  to  the  pages  of 
Wilson,  Robinson,  and  other  travellers.  Of  the  latter  lake  Dr 
Thomson  says,  that  it  is  '  unrivalled  in  beauty,  no  matter  where 
and  from  what  point  you  view  it.  From  the  distant  heights  of 
Hermou,  the  hills  of  Naphtali,  the  plain  of  Ijon,  or  the  groves 
of  Banias,  in  mid-winter  or  mid-summer,  in  the  evening  or  the 
morning — stop  just  where  you  are.  There  lies  the  Huleh,  like  a 
vast  carpet,  with  patterns  of  every  shade,  and  shape,  and  size, 
thrown  down  in  nature's  most  bewitching  neghgence,  and  laced 
all  over  with  countless  streams  of  liquid  light.'  And  thus  far 
north,  if  not  considerably  farther,  extended  the  territory  of  the 
favoured  Naphtali. 

The  one  event  in  the  history  of  this  tribe  which  is  at  all 
prominent,  stands  connected  with  the  exploit  of  Deborah.  We 
have  already  referred  to  her  character,  and  to  the  victory  gained 
over  Sisera,  the  captain  of  the  hosts  of  Jabin  ;  but  it  must  not  be 
forgottefi  that  a  considerable  share  of  the  honour  of  that  victory 
is  due  to  Barak,  the  son  of  Abinoam.  He  belonged  to  the  tribe 
of  Naphtali,  and,  knowing  well  the  prowess  of  that  tribe,  to  him 
Deborah  sent,  inviting  him  to  take  part  in  the  glorious  struggle. 

*  '  Wars,'  iii.  x.  8. 


BAKAK.  241 

At  first  he  hesitated ;  for  there  was  much  timidity  iu  the  charac- 
ter of  the  men  of  Naphtali,  and  not  a  little  want  of  self-rchance. 
But  roused,  as  it  would  seem,  by  the  noble  woman's  appeal, 
he,  who  was  at  first  fearful,  became  bold  as  a  lion  and  swift  as 
the  hind,  and,  dashing  forward  at  the  head  of  his  forces  into  the 
high  places  of  the  field,  he  discomfited  the  adversary,  and  then 
joined  the  wife  of  Lapidoth  in  the  lofty  strains  of  that  inimitable 
ode  :  '  Praise  ye  the  Lord  for  the  avenging  of  Israel,  when  the 
people  willingly  offered  themselves. — So  let  Thine  enemies  perish, 
O  Lord  :  but  let  them  that  love  Thee  be  as  the  sun  when  he 
goeth  forth  in  his  might.'^ 

The  boundaries  of  the  inheritance  of  Asher  are  given  in 
Josh.  xix.  24-31 ;  but  here,  as  in  other  cases,  it  is  difficult  to 
trace  them,  as  many  of  the  places  mentioned  are  quite  unknown. 
We  can  only  give  the  general  outliae. 

The  border  began  at  Helkath,  somewhere  inland,  on  the 
north-east  (ver.  25),  and  extended  thence  toward  the  coast  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  Mount  Carmel ;  and,  skirting  the  foot  of 
it,  reached  to  Shihor-libnath,  a  river  said  by  some  to  be  the 
Belus  of  PKny  and  Tacitus,  and  so  called  because  in  its  vichiity 
glass  was  invented, — Shihor-libnath  signifying  the  glass  river. 
The  Belus,  however,  was  north  of  Carmel;  whereas  this  river  was 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  and  must  have  been 
beyond  Dor,  as  that  place  was  included  in  the  tribe,  though 
afterwards  given  to  the  Manassites  (chap.  xvii.  10).  It  was 
probably  the  Nahr  Belka.  or  else  the  Zarka,  which  is  still  farther 
south.^ 

From  this  river  the  border  turned  eastward  to  Beth-Dagon— 
the  house  of  Dagon — a  place  not  now  known,  and  reached  to 
the  border  of  Zebulun  in  the  valley  of  Jiphthah-el  (ver.  27). 
The  eastern  boundary  running  to  the  north  is  then  given ;  but  the 

1  See  Judges  iv.  v. 

'  See  Keil ;  but  compare  Stanley,  and  Van  de  Velde's  '  Memoir,'  etc. 

Q 


242  NAPHTALI  AND  ASHEE. 

places  mentioned,  Beth-emek,  Neiel,  Cabul,  Hebron,  Rehob,  and 
Hammon,  are  unknown.  It  ran  to  Kanah,  a  large  village  not 
far  from  Tyre,  and  reached  to  Zidon  the  great.  It  then  turned 
southward  to  Ramah,  somewhere  between  Zidon  and  Tyre,  and 
reached  the  fortified  city  of  Tyre ;  and  turning  thence  to  Hosah, 
a  place  not  now  known,  its  outgoings  were  at  Achzib,  on  the 
coast,  nine  Roman  miles  from  Acco,  called  by  the  Greeks 
Ecdippa,  and  now  known  as  Zib.  The  territory  of  Asher  did 
not,  then,  embrace  the  whole  of  the  coast  line,  but  only  that 
from  Achzib  to  Shihor-libnath.  Tyre  and  Zidon,  however, 
were  assigned  to  this  tribe ;  though,  like  several  other  places, 
they  were  never  conquered.^  But  was  Tyre  in  existence  at  this 
time?  Josephus  affirms  that  it  was  not  erected  until  within 
240  years  before  the  building  of  the  temple  of  Solomon ;  and 
hence  it  has  been  affirmed  that  the  Tyre  here  mentioned  was  not 
the  insular  Tyre,  but  a  more  ancient  fortress,  built  upon  the 
mainland  at  a  distance  from  the  coast,  and  afterwards  called 
PalcBtyrus.  But  '  Josephus,'  says  Keil,  '  is  so  thoroughly  reck- 
less in  his  statements  and  dates,  that  he  never  deserves  credence 
when  other  witnesses  are  opposed  to  him.'  The  great  antiquity 
of  Tyre  has  been  established  on  the  clearest  evidence,  and  it  is 
surprising  that  Dr  Robinson  and  others  should  accept  the  date 
of  its  origin  given  by  the  Jewish  historian.  Its  Hebrew  name, 
Tsor  (whence  Syria),  signifies  'the  rock,'  or  'the  rock-city,' 
which  was  quite  unsuitable  to  Palsetyrus,  as  that  place  stood 
upon  a  fruitful  plain.  Isaiah  styles  Tyre  the  'daughter  of 
Zidon,' 2 — an  expression  which  signifies,  that  it  was  a  colony  of 
that  city ;  but  Zidon  itself  (Sidon)  was  founded  prior  to  the  days 
of  Jacob,^  and  the  probability  is  that  its  '  daughter '  was  born 
not  many  years  later.  Mr  Kendrick  supposes  that  there  was  a 
city  on  the  mainland,  near  the  coast,  in  the  times  of  Joshua ;  and 
that,  from  the  first,  the  island,  from  the  excellence  of  its  natural 

1  Judges  i.  31.  2  jg^^,  ^^.j^i  ^2.  ^  Qe^.  ^lix.  13. 


THE  PHCENICIANS.  243 

harbour,  was  a  naval  station  to  that  city,  and,  as  a  place  of 
security,  the  seat  of  the  worship  of  the  national  deities.^ 

The  cities  of  Asher  are  said  to  have  been  twenty-two  in  num- 
ber; among  which  are  mentioned,  Ummah,  Aphek,  and  Rehob, 
— the  last  distinct  from  the  Eehob  before  named  (vers.  28,  30). 
The  names  given  in  Joshua  do  not,  however,  tally  with  this 
number,  so  that  there  were  probably  others  which  are  not  men- 
tioned.^ 

The  occupation  of  the  land  of  Canaan  by  the  Israelites  did 
not  materially  affect  the  interests  of  the  Phoenicians,  for  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  Israelites  ever  made  war  upon  them ;  and 
Asher  '  is  simply  said  to  have  dwelt  among  the  Canaanites,  pro- 
bably in  friendly  relations  with  his  maritime  neighbours.'  '  Judah 
and  Benjamin,  who  inhabited  the  interior  of  the  country  of  which 
the  Phihstines  occupied  the  sea-coast,  were  the  most  warhke  part 
of  the  nation ;  and  the  fertile  district  around  the  maritime  cities 
which  were  included  in  their  grant  (Josh.  xix.  44-47),  must  have 
appeared  to  them  a  very  enviable  possession,  when  contrasted 
with  their  own  mountains,  and  the  desert  region  bordering  on 
the  Dead  Sea.  Their  hostilities  were  therefore  perpetual.  But 
Issachar  and  Zebulun,  Asher  and  NaphtaH,  to  whose  share  the 
fertile  region  of  Gahlee,  the  sea-coast,  and  the  valley  of  the 
Upper  Jordan  had  fallen,  were  not  urged  by  any  similar  motives 
to  make  aggressions  on  their  neighbours.  Their  agricultural 
industry  would  find  its  reward  in  the  markets  of  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
whose  population  far  exceeded  the  means  of  subsistence  which 
their  own  territory  could  supply.  The  traffic  between  Assyria, 
Babylonia,  Arabia,  and  the  Phoenician  cities  must  have  passed 
through  their  territories ;  and  throughout  the  East  the  merchant 
is  usually  compelled  to  pay  tribute  to  every  tribe  which  gives 
him  passage  and  a  safe-conduct.'^ 

1  Kendrick's  '  Phoenicia,'  p.  345.  ^  Comp.  Keil  in  loco. 

*  '  Phoenicia,'  pp.  63-i. 


244  NAPHTALI  AND  ASHER. 

Jacob's  prophecy  respecting  Asher  was  brief,  but  favourable 

'  Out  of  Asher  his  bread  shall  be  fat,  and  he  shall  yield  royal 

dainties  ;'^  and  that  of  Moses  is  equally  expressive—'  Let  Asher 
be  blessed  with  children ;  let  him  be  acceptable  to  his  brethren, 
and  let  him  dip  his  foot  in  oil.  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and 
brass ;  and  as  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be.'^  The  very 
name  Asher  signifies  '  happy ;'  and  in  this  fruitful  territory 
there  was  everything  that  could  render  the  tribe  such, — the 
'  fat,'  the  '  royal  dainties,'  the  '  oil,'  and  the  '  iron  and  brass  ;' 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that,  in  the  midst  of  their  plenty,  the 
Asherites  took  no  part  in  the  contest  with  Jabin.  '  Asher  con- 
tinued on  the  sea-shore,  and  abode  in  his  creeks.' ^  'Being 
merchants,'  says  Fuller,  'they  preferred  profit  before  peril, 
especially  being  in  a  safe  place  where  the  iron  chariots  of  Jabin, 
king  of  Canaan,  could  not  approach  them.' 

Moses  prayed,  'Let  Asher  be  blessed  with  children;'  but 
though  the  tribe  numbered,  at  the  second  census,  53,400  adult 
males,  and  was  thus  the  fifth  in  population  of  all  the  tribes,  yet 
in  the  days  of  David  it  had  become  comparatively  insignificant, 
so  that  its  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Hst  of  the  rulers  of  the 
tribes.*  In  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  when  the  tribes  were  invited 
to  celebrate  the  Passover,  the  posts  passed  from  city  to  city, 
*even  unto  Zebulun:  but  they  laughed  them  to  scorn,  and 
mocked  them.'  '  Nevertheless,'  it  is  added,  '  divers  of  Asher,  and 
Manasseh,  and  of  Zebulun,  humbled  themselves,  and  came  to 
Jerusalem.'^  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  proximity  of  Asher 
and  Zebulun  to  the  Phoenicians  led  them  to  forget  the  Lord 
God  of  their  fathers,  and  to  do  homage  to  the  gods  of  Tyre  and 
Zidon.  The  religion  of  the  Phoenicians  was  founded  on  a  deifi- 
cation of  the  powers  of  Nature.  Baal,  the  sun,  and  Ashtoreth, 
the  moon,  were  its  two  principal  divinities  ;  and  to  these,  and  also 

»  Gen.  xlix.  20.  ^  pe^,t,  xxxiii.  24,  25.  '  Judges,  v.  17. 

*  1  Chron.  xxvii.  16-22  /  2  Chron.  xxx.  10-12. 


RELIGION  OF  THE  PHCENICIANS.  245 

to  Other  gods,  temples  were  erected  and  rites  instituted,  some 
of  which  latter  were  most  libidinous,  and  others  cruel  and 
inhuman.  The  worship  of  Moloch  was  accompanied  by  the 
practice  of  compelling  children  to  pass  through  fire,  and  that  of 
Baal  by  loud  cries  and  self-torturing  of  the  body.  The  Israelites 
found  this  religion  fully  established  when  they  entered  Canaan ; 
and  liow  soon  they  became  inoculated  with  the  poison,  their 
subsequent  history  clearly  testifies.^  In  the  time  of  the  Judges, 
and  in  the  days  of  Samuel,  they  became  worshippers  of  Baal 
and  of  Ashtoreth  ;  and  hence  they  were  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  their  enemies,  from  whom  they  were  delivered  only  when  they 
returned  to  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers.  The  tribe  of  Asher 
was  probably  the  first  to  fall  into  the  snare.  For  it  is  surprising 
how  the  human  mind  is  fascinated  with  the  rites  of  heathenism. 
Heathenism  seems  to  operate  on  those  who  come  into  contact 
with  it  like  a  charm,  so  that  they  are  often  taken  in  the  net 
before  they  are  aware  of  it.  Its  splendid  temples,  its  gorgeous 
ceremonies,  its  magnificent  processions,  its  sensual  gratifications, 
make  their  appeal  to  the  worst  passions  of  our  nature ;  and 
when  once  the  barrier  of  principle  is  broken  down,  and  the  fear 
of  the  true  Jehovah  is  cast  off,  the  heart  becomes  an  easy  con- 
quest, and  there  false  gods  revel  as  they  will.  No  wonder  that 
the  northern  tribes  laughed  the  messengers  of  Hezekiah  to  scorn ; 
for  what  cared  they  respecting  the  Passover  at  Jerusalem,  if,  as 
is  more  than  probable,  they  joined  in  the  worship  of  Baal  in 
the  cities  of  Tyre  and  Zidon  ? 

But  the  day  of  vengeance  came.  First  the  ten  tribes  were 
led  into  captivity  by  the  Assyrians  ;  and  afterwards  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, the  proud  king  of  Babylon,  laid  siege  to  Tyre,  and  took 
it;  SLU  event  predicted  hj  the  ]yTOi^]iet  Ezekiel,^  but  not  recorded 
in  the  Jewish  scriptures.^    Nor  was  this  the  only  judgment  upon 

1  Judges  ii.  11-13.  -  Ezek.  xxvi.  2-10. 

*  It  is,  however,  preserved  from  the  Tyrian  Annals  by  Josephus,  Ant.  x.  xi.  1. 


246  NAPHTALI  AND  ASHER. 

Tyre.  Having  recovered  something  of  its  former  greatness,  it 
was  again  besieged  by  Alexander  the  Great  (b.  c.  322) ;  and, 
after  a  long  and  obstinate  resistance,  taken  and  destroyed  by 
fire.  Eight  thousand  persons  were  slain,  and  thirty  thousand 
were  sold  as  slaves.  The  population  was,  in  this  way,  nearly 
exterminated,  and  Alexander  sent  colonists  to  occupy  their  place. 
To  its  subsequent  history  we  need  not  allude ;  but  its  fall, 
together  with  that  of  Zidon,  was  intended  as  a  warning  to  all 
nations  who,  in  the  pride  of  their  hearts,  set  themselves  to  oppose 
the  one  true  God.^ 

The  tribe  of  Asher  gave  to  the  Israelites  neither  judge  nor 
ruler;  but  there  is  one  name  which  stands  connected  with  it, 
which,  though  it  belongs  to  the  Christian  era,  should  not  be 
overlooked.  Anna  the  prophetess,  the  daughter  of  Phanuel,  a 
widow  of  about  fourscore  and  four  years,  which  departed  not 
from  the  temple,  but  served  God  with  fastings  and  prayers  night 
and  day,  was  of  the  tribe  of  Aser  f  and  when  the  child  Jesus 
was  brought  into  the  temple,  she  recognised  Him  as  the  Christ, 
gave  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  and  spake  of  Him  to  all  them  that 
looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem.  Thus  was  the  honour  of 
this  tribe  rescued  from  oblivion  by  an  aged  and  pious  matron ; 
but  for  whom,  its  name  would  scarcely  have  had  a  place  in  the 
pages  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures. 

'  See  Ezek.  xxvii.  xxviii,  *  Luke  ii.  86, 


CHAPTER    XYII. 


THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES  AlW  THE  CITIES  OF  KEFUGE. 


il^LL  the  tribes,  save  one,  had  now  been  provided  for  ;  the 
Israelites  had  given  to  Joshua  himself  Timnath-serah, 
in  Mount  Ephraim,  for  an  inheritance;  and,  as  the 
several  allotments  were  assigned  to  them,  the  people  had  pro- 
bably repaired  to  those  allotments,  and  had  entered  on  the  pos- 
session of  their  lands.  But  for  the  tribe  of  Levi  no  provision 
was  yet  made,  and  now  therefore  the  heads  of  that  tribe  came  to 
Joshua  and  Eleazar  at  Shiloh,  and  reminded  them  that  the  Lord 
had  commanded  Moses  to  give  them  cities  to  dwell  in,  with  the 
suburbs  for  their  cattle.^  The  number  of  cities  they  were  to  re- 
ceive was  in  all  forty-eight,  including  six  cities  of  refuge ;  and 

*  Josh.  xxi.  1,  2,  comp.  Num.  xxxv.  2-8. 


248  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

these  cities  were  to  be  chosen  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  that  the 
Levites  might  be'scattered  amoDg  the  people  for  the  general  good. 

The  Levites  were  the  descendants  of  Levi,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Jacob  by  Leah ;  and  to  this  tribe  belonged  Moses,  the  lawgiver 
of  Israel,  and  Aaron,  their  high  priest.  It  was  specially  set  apart, 
instead  of  the  first-born  of  all  the  tribes,  for  sacerdotal  purposes  ; 
and  in  the  wilderness  the  office  of  the  Levites  was  to  carry  the 
tabernacle  and  its  furniture  from  place  to  place.^  Highly 
honourable  was  the  task,  and  it  was,  no  doubt,  performed  with 
considerable  pleasure;  but  now  that  the  people  had  entered 
Canaan,  and  that  the  tabernacle  had  been  set  up  in  Shiloh,  the 
work  ceased,  and  another  task  would  therefore  devolve  upon  the 
tribe.     What  that  task  was,  we  shall  hereafter  indicate. 

The  sons  of  Levi  were  Gershon,  Kohath,  and  Merari ;  and 
the  tribe  consisted  accordingly  of  three  branches.  Of  these  the 
Kohathites  took  the  lead,  and  were  subdivided  into  the  families 
of  Amram  (whose  lineal  descendants  were  Moses  and  Aaron), 
Izhar,  Hebron,  and  Uzziel.^  On  the  family  of  Aaron  the  priest- 
hood was  conferred;^  but  the  posterity  of  Moses  were  also 
reckoned  as  Levites,  and  were  placed  on  an  equality  with  the 
rest  of  the  entire  tribe."*  The  Levitical  cities  were  chosen  by 
lot ;  and  the  first  lot  was  drawn  by  the  Kohathites,  the  second  by 
the  Gershonites,  and  the  third  by  the  Merarites.  The  following 
tables  represent  the  several  allotments,  the  names  of  the  cities  of 
refuge  being  printed  in  capitals,  and  the  modern  names  of  those 
cities  which  have  been  identified  being  given  in  opposite  columns. 

I.  (a) — The  Kohathites  in  the'  line  of  Aakon. 
1.   Cities  in  the  territories  of  Judah  and  Simeon. 
1.  Hebron  (Arba),     .  el  Khulil,  .     20  m.  S. 

.   2.  Libnah,  Arab  el  Mensbiyeh,      26|^  m.  S.W. 

'  Num.  iii.  12,  etc.  -  Exod.  vi.  18. 

'  Num.  xviii.  1-7.  ■•  Num.  iii. ;  1  Cbron.  vi.  19,  20. 


CITIES  OF  THE  PRIESTS.  249 


3.  Jattir,     . 

. 

.    Attir, 

33  m.  S. 

4.  Eshtemoa, 

. 

.     Senaar, 

24i  m.  S. 

5.  Holon,    . 

. 

.... 

... 

6.  Debir,    . 

.     Kirjath-Sophr, 

23  m.  S.S.W. 

7.  Ain, 

. 

.... 

8.  Juttah, 

. 

.    Yutta,      . 

23  m.  S. 

9.  Beth-shemesh, 

• 

.     Ain  Shems, 

15  m.  W.S.W. 

2. 

Cities 

in  the  territory  of  Benjamin. 

10.  Gibeon, 

. 

.     elJib,      . 

5i  m.  W.N.W. 

11.  Geba,     . 

. 

.     Jeba  or  Jiba,  . 

6i  m.  N.N.E. 

12.  Anathoth, 

. 

.    Anata,     . 

2^  m.  N.N.E. 

13.  Almon, 

.     'Almit,     . 

4  m.  N.N.E. 

Such  were  the  cities  assigned  to  the  priests ;  and  they  were 
all,  as  the  figures  in  the  third  column  indicate,  within  a  com- 
paratively short  distance  of  Jerusalem,  where  ultimately  the 
tabernacle  was  set  up,  and  the  temple  was  erected,  that  being 
the  spot  which  God  chose,  in  preference  to  Shiloh,  to  place  His 
name  there.  Could  this  be  by  chance  ?  No  ;  the  hand  of  Pro- 
vidence was  in  the  matter.  God  Himself  so  ordered  it,  and  so 
disposed  the  lots,  that  just  that  portion  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  who 
would  be  required  to  conduct  the  services  of  the  temple  should 
live  in  its  vicinity.  And  there,  accordingly,  we  find  them  in  the 
days  of  David  and  Solomon,  when,  their  number  having  consider- 
ably increased,  they  were  divided  into  twenty-four  courses,  each 
course  officiating  in  its  turn  during  two  weeks  of  the  year. 

I.  (J)) — The  Rest  of  the  Kohathites. 

1,    Cities  in  the  territory  of  Ephraim. 

1.  Shechem,       .         .         .     Nabulus,  .         .     32  m.  N. 

2.  Gezer,    ....     el  Kubab  (?),  .         .     15  m.  W.N.W.  (?) 

3.  Kibzaim,         ...  

4.  Beth-horon,    .         .         .     Beit-Ur,  .         .15  m.  N.W. 

2.   Cities  in  the  territory  of  Dun. 

5.  Eltekeh,         ...  

G.  Gibbethon,     ...  


250 


7.  Aijalon, 

8.  Gath-rimmon, 


THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

.    Yalo,       .        .        .     11m.  N.W. 


3.   Cities  in  the  territory  of  Manasseh,  W. 
9.  Taanach,        .         .        .    Ta'anuk,       •  .        .    43  m.  N, 
10.  Bileam(l  Chron.  vi.  70),         ...         .        . 

II. — The  Gershonites. 
1.   Cities  in  the  territory  of  Manasseh,  E. 


1.  Golan, 

. 

. 

2.  Beeshterah, 

. 

.     Mezarib(?),     .         .             ?       . 

2. 

Cities  in  the  territory  of  Issachar. 

3.  Kishon, 

. 

...              ... 

4.  Dabareh, 

. 

.    Debfirieh,        .        .     63  m.  N. 

5.  Jarmuth, 

. 

.    Rameh,    .        .        .80  m.  N. 

6.  En-gannim, 

. 

.    Jenin,      .        .        .46^  m.  N. 

3 

.  Cities  in  the  territory  of  Asher. 

7.  Mishal, 

. 

.    Misalli,    .        .        .     73  m.  N.W. 

8.  Abdon,  . 

. 

.     Abdeh,    .        .        .     86  m.  N.W. 

9.  Helkath, 

. 

.     Ukkrith,           .        .     89  m.  N. 

10.  Rehob,   . 



4. 

Cities  in  the  territory  of  Naphtali. 

11.  Kedesh, 

. 

.    Kades,     .        .        .    95  m.  N. 

12.  Hammoth-dor, 

...... 

13.  Kartan, 

• 

III. — The  Merarites. 

1. 

Cities  in  the  territory  of  Zehulun. 

1.  Jokneam, 

. 

.     el-Kaimun,      .         .     68  m.  N.E. 

2.  Kartah, 

.     el-Harti,           .         .     73  m.  N.E. 

3.  Dimnah, 

. 

.  '       . 

4.  Nahalal, 

.     Malal, 

2. 

Cities  in  the  territory  of  Reuben. 

5.  Bezer, 

. 

.    Bozor(?),        .        .     80  m.  E.N.E.  (? 

6.  Jahazah, 

.         .         ...         .         .        .             ... 

7.  Kedemoth, 

. 

...            ... 

8.  Mephaath, 



THE  LEVITES  HONOURED.  251 

3.   Cities  in  the  territory  of  Gad. 
9.  Rajioth,         .         .         .     es-Salt,    .         .         .    39  m.  N.E. 

10.  Mahanaim, 

11.  Heshbon,        .        .        .    Heshban,         .        .    37  m.  E. 

12.  Jazer,     ....     Seir,  .         .     37  m.  E.N.E.» 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  tables  that  nearly  the  same  num- 
ber of  cities  were  assigned  to  the  Levites  from  each  of  the  other 
tribes ;  another  proof,  surely,  that  the  hand  of  Providence  di- 
rected the  drawing  of  the  lots.  Thus,  according  to  the  prophecy 
of  Jacob,  were  the  Levites  literally  scattered  in  Israel ;  whilst  the 
prayer  of  Moses  for  them  was  also  answered:  'Bless,  Lord, 
their  substance,  and  accept  the  "work  of  their  hands.'  God 
honours  those  who  honour  Him.  When  the  Israelites  made  the 
golden  calf  and  worshipped  it,  '  Moses  stood  in  the  gate  of  the 
camp,  and  said,  Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  let  him  come  unto 
me.  And  all  the  sons  of  Levi  gathered  themselves  together  unto 
him.' 2  They  were  commanded  by  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to 
take  their  swords,  and  to  slay  every  man  his  brother,  and  every 
man  his  companion,  and  every  man  his  neighbour ;  and  terrible 
as  the  injunction  was,  they  obeyed,  and  thus  consecrated  them- 
selves that  day  to  the  Lord.  To  this  event  the  song  of  Moses 
has  reference.  '  By  his  untimely  and  ungodly  zeal  for  the  honour 
of  his  own  house,  the  forefather  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  brought  a 
curse  upon  himself,  which  still  rested  on  his  tribe  (Gen.  xlix.  5-7, 
xxxiv.  25  sqq.) ;  by  their  well-timed  and  holy  zeal  for  the  honour 
of  the  house  of  God,  his  descendants  had  now  extinguished  the 
curse,  and  changed  it  into  a  blessing.  If  their  ancestor  had 
violated  truth,  fidelity,  and  justice,  by  the  vengeance  which  he 
took  upon  the  Shechemites  from  a  mistaken  regard  to  blood- 
relationship,  his  descendants  had  now  rescued  truth,  justice,  and 
the  covenant,  by  executing  the  vengeance  of  Jehovah  upon  their 
own  blood-relations.     Hence  Moses  referred  to  this  tribe  in  the 

»  Comp.  1  Chron.  vi.  54-81.  ^  ExocI.  xxxii.  26-29. 


252  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

following  words  (Deut.  xxxiii.  9) :  "  Who  says  of  his  father  and 
mother,  I  saw  them  not;  who  is  ignorant  of  his  brother,  and 
knows  notliing  of  his  own  sons."  The  disposition  manifested  by 
Levi  on  this  occasion,  and  his  obedience  in  such  difiScult  circum- 
stances,— viz.,  his  readiness  to  esteem  father  and  mother,  friend 
and  brother,  hghtly  in  comparison  with  Jehovah, — was  that  which 
quaUfied  the  tribe  of  Levi,  above  every  other,  to  serve  in  the 
house  of  Jehovah,  and  rendered  it  worthy  to  be  chosen  as  the 
lot  and  inheritance  of  Jehovah  (cf.  Deut.  xxxiii.  9, 10).  The  com- 
mand of  Moses  to  the  Levites,  who  were  assembled  round  him, 
to  avenge  the  honour  of  Jehovah  on  those  who  perished  in  their 
rebellion,  was  a  temptation  intended  to  prove  whether  they  were 
fit  for  their  future  vocation,  namely,  to  devote  them  entirely  to 
the  service  of  Jehovah.'^ 

Around  each  of  the  cities  of  the  Levites  a  thousand  square 
cubits  of  land  were  granted  to  them  for  pasturage  and  cultiva- 
tion,— equal  to  305  English  acres.  But  this  was  by  no  means  an 
equivalent  for  a  twelfth  portion  of  the  whole  land  of  Canaan ; 
nor  was  it  suSicient  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  tribe.  Hence 
the  law  of  tithes  was  estabhshed ;  and  each  of  the  tribes  was 
required  to  give  a  tenth  of  the  produce  of  their  flocks  and  of 
their  harvest  to  the  Levites  year  by  year,  out  of  which,  however, 
the  Levites  gave  one-tenth  to  the  priests.^ 

But  essential  service  was  rendered  to  the  nation  by  the 
Levites  for  all  that  they  received.  They  became,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  instructors  of  the  people.  Not  only  did  the  priests* 
lips  keep  knowledge,  but  the  Levites,  as  a  tribe,  exerted  great 
influence  in  the  land ;  for,  in  the  days  of  Jehoshaphat,  for  ex- 
ample, 'they  taught  in  Judah,  and  had  the  book  of  the  law  of 
the  Lord  with  them,  and  went  about  through  all  the  cities  of 
Judah,  and  taught  the  people.'     In  connection  with  the  temple 

'  Kurtz,  '  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,'  vol.  iii.,  p.  1G9. 
^  Num.  xviii. 


THE  LEVITICAL  INSTITUTE.  253 

service,  their  office  was  '  to  wait  upon  the  sons  of  Aaron,  in  the 
courts,  and  in  the  chambers,  and  in  the  purifying  of  all  holj 
things.'  Gf  the  priests  there  were  twenty-four  courses  ;  but  of 
the  Levites  there  were  four  times  twenty-four,  who  officiated  as 
singers,  porters,  and  servitors.^  And  though,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  Levites,  not  of  the  sons  of  Aaron,  were  not  at  liberty  to 
exercise  sacerdotal  functions,  yet  Samuel,  who,  though  a  Levite, 
was  not  of  the  line  of  Aaron,  did  offer  sacrifices, — as,  indeed,  did 
David,  David's  sons,  and  several  others,  who  did  not  belong  to 
the  tribe  of  Levi  at  all.  This  fact  is  somewhat  difficult  to 
account  for ;  but  the  obvious  inference  is,  that  '  during  a  long 
period  after  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  the  Israehtes  extensively 
preserved  the  patriarchal  organization  of  their  households ;  that 
the  head  of  the  family,  at  regular  intervals,  performed  the 
sacerdotal  functions  in  the  name  of  the  other  members ;  that,  in 
general,  the  priestly  power  remained  combined  with  secular 
authority.  So  that  among  the  Hebrews,  as  was  the  case  among 
all  ancient  nations,  kings,  military  leaders,  or  other  public  digni- 
taries, offered  sacrifices  for  the  people,  and  discharged  other 
religious  offices;  that  these  rites  were  performed  at  any  place 
where  an  occasion  arose,  and  not  exclusively  at  the  tabernacle ; 
that  the  Levites,  weakened  and  humbled  in  consequence  of 
political  misfortunes  and  reckless  warfare,  were  far  from  possess- 
ing any  special  claim  to  the  priesthood,  could  still  less  obtain  or 
exercise  great  hierarchical  power,  and  appear  almost  everywhere 
in  a  condition  of  dependence,  and  sometimes  of  helplessness.'  ^ 

Amid  the  varied  fortunes  of  the  Israelites,  the  tribe  of  Levi 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the  nation.  But  the  Levitical 
institute,  being  permanent  and  hereditary,  was  hable  to  abuse ; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  checks  it  received  from  the  prophets 
and  their  order,  it  would  probably  have  degenerated  much  fur- 
ther than  it  did.     Wisely  and  mercifully  did  God  raise  up  from 

>  1  CLron.  xxiii.  xxiv.  ^  Dr  Kaliscli  ou  Gen.  xlix.  1-2S. 


254-  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

amongst  the  people,  and  that  irrespective  of  tribe,  family,  or 
station,  a  number  of  men,  from  time  to  time,  who,  putting  the 
trumpet  to  their  mouth,  cried  aloud  and  spared  not,  but  de- 
nounced the  sins  of  the  priests  and  Levites  as  well  as  of  the 
nation  generally  ;  and  thus  they  who  in  their  ofi&cial  pride  called 
themselves  *  the  temple  of  the  Lord,'  and  were  disposed  to  think 
themselves  much  holier  than  others,  were  taught  that  they  too 
were  amenable  to  a  higher  power,  and  that  God  had  respect, 
not  to  ceremonial  observances  and  to  ritual  institutions  merely, 
but  to  purity  of  heart  and  to  holiness  of  life. 

It  would,  however,  lead  us  beyond  our  limits  to  dwell  on  the 
history  and  character  of  the  Levites ;  nor  are  there  many  of 
their  cities,  save  the  cities  of  refuge,  which  possess  any  consider- 
able amount  of  interest.  As  the  foregoing  tables  show,  the  sites 
of  several  of  them  are  unknown;  but  those  of  several  others 
have  been  discovered  by  recent  travellers,  where,  as  at  Jazer  in 
Gilead,  Nahalal,  Mishal,  and  elsewhere,  ruins  have  been  observed, 
manifestly  of  great  antiquity.^ 

But,  passing  by  these  cities,  we  proceed  to  speak  of  the  cities 
of  refuge,  and  of  the  design  of  their  appointment.  They  were 
evidently  selected  before  the  Levitical  cities  were  chosen, — three 
of  them,  indeed,  by  Moses  prior  to  his  death,  and  the  remaining 
three  by  Joshua,  just  after  the  division  of  the  land.  The  pur- 
pose for  which  these  cities  were  set  apart,  was  to  afford  an  asylum 
from  the  blood-avenger  for  the  person  who  had  involuntarily 
committed  homicide.  Both  in  patriarchal  times  and  under  the 
law  of  Moses,  human  life  was  held  in. the  highest  degree  sacred. 
The  wilful  murderer  was  to  be  put  to  death ;  and  even  the  man 
who  had  accidentally  killed  another  might  be  pursued  by  the  Goel, 
i^NS,  or  blood-avenger, — the  person  next  of  kin  to  the  man  slain, 
— who  might  take  vengeance  on  him  for  the  loss  of  his  relative.^ 

*  See  Kobinson's  '  Kesearches,'  and  Van  de  Velde's  '  Memoii's.' 
'  Num.  XXXV.  10,  11 ;  Joshua  xx.  3-6. 


THE  GOEL.  255 

Here  was  justice ;  but  with  it  mercy  was  tempered :  for  the  in- 
voluntary manslayer  might  flee  to  one  of  the  cities  of  refuge,  the 
roads  to  which  were  always  open;  and  on  arriving  within  a  circle 
of  2000  cubits,  was  safe  from  the  avenger  of  blood,  until  at  least 
the  case  was  investigated  by  the  constituted  authorities. 

Ere  we  proceed  further  to  explain  the  law,  we  will  advert  to 
the  cities  selected  for  this  purpose.  They  were,  as  we  have  seen, 
all  Levitical  cities,  or,  rather,  they  were  all  given  to  the  Levites 
after  being  selected.  Three  of  them  were  situated  ou  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Jordan,  and  three  on  the  western  side ;  and  it  is  said 
that  the  former  three  were,  respectively,  nearly  opposite  the 
latter  three.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  were  '  Bezer  in 
the  wilderness,  in  the  plain  country  of  the  Reubenites ;  and 
Ramoth  in  Gilead  of  the  Gadites  ;  and  Golan  in  Bashan  of  the 
Manassites.' ^  Bezer  (Boaop)  is  supposed  to  have  been  nearly 
opposite  Jericho,  and  was  probably  one  of  the  strong  and  great 
cities  mentioned  in  1  Mace.  v.  26 ;  but  its  exact  site  has  not 
been  ascertained.  Ramoth,  or  Ramoth  Mizpeh,  has  been 
identified  with  the  present  es-Salt,  a  place  in  the  mountains  of 
Gilead,  visited  by  Burckhardt  in  the  year  1810-11.  Here 
probably  Jephthah  dwelt ;  here  one  of  Solomon's  chief  governors 
resided  (1  Kings  iv.  13);  and  here  occurred  the  unfortunate  siege 
of  Ahab,  when,  the  city  being  in  the  hands  of  the  Syrians,  he 
was  persuaded  to  go  up  and  attack  it,  was  wounded  in  his 
chariot,  and  lost  his  life.  1  Kings  xxii.  3,  etc.  Golan  was,  no 
doubt,  situated  somewhere  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  and  probably  gave  its  name  to  the  tract  of  country 
called  Gaulonitis ;  but  the  site  of  it  has  not  been  ascertained.^ 

The  cities  on  the  west  of  the  Jordan  are  well-known  sites. 
Of  Hebron  we  have  already  spoken.  Connected  as  it  was  with 
such  hallowed  associations,  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  should  be 
chosen  as  a  city  of  refuge;  and  '  lying  in  deep  repose  in  the  vale 

1  Dent.  iv.  43  :  Joshua  xx.  8.  =  Comp.  Keil  in  loco. 


256  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

of  Mamre,'  it  looked  like  such  a  city — calm,  peaceful,  and  secure. 
It  is  now  called  el-Kulil,  or  'the  friend;'  it  is  situated  among 
the  mountains  of  Judah,  twenty  miles  south  of  Jerusalem,  and 
contains  at  present  a  population  of  about  five  thousand.  Every 
traveller  in  Palestine  pays  it  a  visit ;  and  the  descriptions  given 
of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  surrounding  country  lead  us  to 
conclude  that,  in  gaining  such  a  possession,  the  Levites  were 
highly  favoured.  The  surrounding  lands  were,  however,  retained 
by  Caleb.  In  the  mountains  of  Ephraim,  between  Ebal  and 
Gerizim,  was  the  second  of  the  three,  Shechem,  a  little  to  the 
west  of  the  present  Nablous,  or  Neapolis.^  This  city  also  was 
known  to  the  patriarchs ;  and  its  situation,  in  '  a  valley,  green 
with  grass,  grey  with  oKves,'  with  '  gardens  sloping  down  on 
each  side,'  and  'fresh  springs  rushing  down  in  all  directions,' 
rendered  it  not  less  desirable  as  a  residence  than  Hebron.  And 
what  shall  we  say  of  Kedesh,  in  Naphtali?  It  still  exists, 
bearing  the  name  of  Kades,  in  a  high  tract  of  country  on  the 
west  of  the  Huleh,  where  there  are  remains  which  show  that  it 
was  once  a  place  of  considerable  importance.^ 

Such,  then,  were  the  cities  of  refuge.  And  now  let  us  return 
to  the  consideration  of  their  purpose.  Here  is  a  man  who  has 
unawares  killed  another.  He  has  suddenly  thrust  him,  or,  not 
seeing  him,  has  let  a  stone  fall  upon  him,  and  thus,  though  he 
bore  him  no  enmity,  has  caused  his  death.  The  nearest  kinsman 
of  the  person  slain  is  made  acquainted  with  the  fact ;  and  it  is 
his  duty  at  once  to  pursue  the  homicide,  and  to  avenge  upon  him 
the  blood  of  his  relative.  But  the  homicide  flees,  and,  finding 
one  of  the  roads  leading  to  the  nearest  city  of  refuge,  pursues  it 
with  the  utmost  speed,  the  Goel  following  close  upon  his  heels. 
.  If  the  latter  is  a  revengeful  man,  and  overtakes  him  ere  he 
reaches  the  borders  of  the  city,  he  takes  away  his  life  ;  if  he  is  a 

'  See  Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  p.  231. 

'  Sec  Robinson,  vol.  ii.,  p.  439;  and  '  The  Land  and  the  Book,'  p.  266. 


THE  LAW  OF  EEFUGE.  257 

generous  man,  be  gi^es  him  the  advantage,  and  allows  him  to 
reach  the  spot  in  safety.  There  he  is  received  by  the  elders  of 
the  city ;  •  and  there,  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gate  of  the  city, 
where  was  the  forum,  or  place  of  judgment,  the  case  between 
the  parties  is  investigated.  If  the  elders  find  that,  though  he 
has  fled  thither,  the  homicide  is  guilty  of  wilful  murder,  they  at 
once  deliver  him  up  to  the  Goel;  but  if  they  find  that  he  is 
really  guiltless — that  the  act  was  indeed  unintentional  and  unpre- 
meditated,— they  are  bound  to  deliver  him  from  the  avenger  of 
blood,  and  he  must  remain  within  the  precincts  of  the  city  until 
the  death  of  the  then  living  high  priest.^ 

Heathen  nations  had  their  asyla — groves,  temples,  altars,  and 
even  cities — to  which  offenders  might  flee  for  protection.  But 
in  process  of  time  they  were  much  abused,  and  many  of  the 
vilest  characters  were  permitted  to  claim  in  them  exemption 
from  punishment.  The  city  of  Ephesus,  for  example,  was  re- 
sorted to  as  an  asylum  by  wilful  murderers ;  and  hence  the 
Emperor  Tiberius  deemed  it  necessary  to  interfere,  and  to  Hmit 
both  the  number  and  the  privileges  of  such  cities.  The  superi- 
ority of  the  Jewish  law,  then,  is  evident.  Even  the  altar  itself 
was  to  afford  no  asylum  to  the  guilty;  for  the  Mosaic  ritual 
said,  '  If  any  man  come  presumptuously  on  his  neighbour  to  slay 
nim  with  guile,  thou  shalt  take  him  from  Mine  altar.'  Exod.  xxi. 
14.  In  no  instance  did  the  Jewish  law  connive  at  sin.  It  was 
strict,  even  to  severity  ;  yet,  in  the  appointment  of  the  cities  of 
refuge,  there  was  mercy  mingled  with  justice.  Doubtless  it  was 
a  great  trial  for  a  man  who  had  unfortunately  killed  another,  to  be 
separated  from  his  home  and  family  for  weeks,  months,  or  even 
years ;  for  he  was  strictly  confined  to  the  borders  of  the  city, 
inasmuch  as  if  he  went  beyond  them,  and  the  Goel  found  him, 
he  might  kill  him.  Num.  xxxv.  26,  27.  But  in  this  way  the 
Israelites  were  taught  to  be  specially  careful  of  human  life.    Nor 

^  Num.  xxxv.  2,  25 ;  Deut.  xix.  1-7 ;  Josh.  xx.  2-G. 

r 


258  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

was  the  punishment,  after  all,  severer  than  that  which  our  own 
laws  frequently  inflict  for  manslaughter ;  for  in  the  city  of  refuge 
the  poor  refugee  was  well  provided  for,  and,  though  he  might 
not  return  to  his  home  until  the  death  of  the  high  priest,  his 
friends  and  relatives  might  visit  him  and  converse  with  him,  and  he 
would  look  forward  to  the  day  of  his  release  with  hope  and  joy. 

But  why  must  the  homicide  remain  in  the  city  until  the 
death  of  the  high  priest?  Not  because,  as  some  have  repre- 
sented, the  high  priest  was  the  representative  of  the  whole 
people,  and  that  his  death,  therefore,  was  so  important  that  every 
other  death  was  forgotten,  and  could  no  longer  be  avenged ;  but 
because,  being  anointed  with  the  holy  oil,  he  was  the  mediator 
of  the  people  in  the  presence  of  Grod,  and  because  he  only  could 
enter  the  holiest  place  of  all  on  the  great  day  of  atonement,  to 
present  the  annual  expiation  for  the  whole  congregation  of  the 
children  of  Israel.  Thus  '  his  death  might  be  regarded  as  a 
death  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  by  which  the  unintentional 
manslayer  received  the  benefits  of  the  propitiation,  and,  being 
cleansed  from  that  sin,  might  return  to  his  native  city  without 
further  exposure  to  the  revenge  of  the  avenger  of  blood.' ^  To 
the  unfortunate  homicide,  then,  the  death  of  the  high  priest 
would  be  a  most  desirable  event ;  and  hence  the  Rabbins  say, 
that  to  induce  such  fugitives  not  to  pray  that  it  might  be  has- 
tened, the  relatives,  and  especially  the  mothers  of  the  high 
priests,  provided  them  with  food  and  clothing,  thus  making 
their  asylum  as  agreeable  as  they  could.  The  Rabbins  say 
further,  that  if  the  fugitive  died  before  the  high  priest,  he  was 
buried  in  the  city  of  refuge ;  but  that,  after  the  high  priest's 
death,  his  bones  were  dehvered  to  his  relatives  to  be  reinterred. 

A  difficulty  presents  itself  here,  arising  fom  the  fact,  that  the 
punishment  might,  in  some  cases,  extend  over  a  considerable 
period,  and  in  others  be  exceedingly  brief;  for  the  high  priest 

*  See  Keil  in  loco. 


THE  LAW  OF  REVENGE.  259 

might  live  many  years  after  an  homicide  had  fled  to  one  of  these 
cities,  or  he  might  die  almost  immediately  after.  To  meet  this 
objection,  Philo,  after  his  usual  method,  has  recourse  to  an  inner 
and  allegorical  interpretation,  in  which  he  represents  the  high 
priest  as  signifying,  not  a  man,  but  the  Word  of  God.  But  so 
mystical  is  his  notion,  that  it  is  impossible  to  understand  it ;  and 
it  is  doubtful,  indeed,  whether  he  understood  it  himself.^  There 
is  no  need,  however,  to  depart  from  the  literal  interpretation  of 
the  words  of  the  law.  Whether  the  high  priest  died  soon  after 
the  fugitive  had  entered  the  city  of  refuge,  or  not  until  several 
years  after,  there  he  must  remain ;  for  the  law  said,  '  Ye  shall 
take  no  satisfaction  for  him  that  is  fled  to  the  city  of  his  refuge, 
that  he  should  come  again  to  dwell  in  the  land,  until  the  death 
of  the  priest.'  Num.  xxxv.  32.  As  to  any  injustice  to  the 
fugitive,  we  may  safely  leave  it  to  that  Providence  which  watched 
over  the  interests  of  every  Israelite.  He  who  ordained  these 
laws,  would  take  care  that  they  should  not  press  with  undue 
severity  on  the  persons  whose  welfare  they  had  in  view ;  and, 
under  any  circumstances,  the  city  of  refuge  was  a  provision  of 
mercy,  which  few  would  fail  gratefully  to  acknowledge. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  a  law  of  blood-revenge  exists 
amongst  the  Bedouin  Arabs  to  this  day;  and  it  is  highly  probable 
that  the  Mosaic  legislation  on  this  subject  was  founded,  in  part, 
on  usages  at  that  time  existing  in  the  East.  But,  among  the 
Arabs,  affairs  of  blood  are  usually  made  up  by  a  heavy  fine ; 
and  it  Is  said  in  the  Koran,  that  whoso  killeth  a  behever  by 
mistake,  the  penalty  shall  be  the  freeing  of  a  behever  from 
slavery,  and  a  fine  to  be  paid  to  the  family  of  the  deceased, 
unless  they  remit  it  as  alms.=  Very  different  from  this  was  the 
law  of  Moses ;  and  far  more  sacred,  therefore,  is  human  life  in 

1  See  his  treatise  on  '  Fugitives,'  wliicli  is  full  of  the  strangest  imaginable 
notions  concerning  the  cities  of  refuge. 

2  See  Sale's  Koran,  chap.  iv. ;  and  Layard's  '  Nineveh  and  Babylon,'  p.  305. 


260  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

the  estimation  of  the  Jewish  code  than  in  that  of  the  Moham- 
medan or  of  any  other  system.  The  Jewish  code  declares  that 
man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God ;  that  whoso  sheds  man's 
blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed  ;^  and  that  even  the  homi- 
cide, though  not  guilty  of  wilful  murder,  shall  not  be  liberated 
by  the  payment  of  a  fine,  but  only  by  the  atoning  death  of  the 
high  priest ;  and  thus  it  proclaims  the  life  of  a  man  to  be  of 
greater  worth  than  thousands  of  gold  and  silver. 

And  here  a  somewhat  interesting  inquiry  arises,  to  which  we 
must  devote,  at  least,  a  few  pages.  Were  the  cities  of  refuge 
typical  of  Christ  ?  Did  they,  in  any  way,  shadow  forth  to  the 
Israehtes  the  better  refuge  provided  for  every  transgressor  of 
the  law  ?  That  they  are  not  spoken  of  as  types,  must  be  at  once 
admitted ;  and  if  nothing  was  typical  under  the  Old  Testament 
economy  but  what  is  expressly  represented  as  such,  then  we 
must  unhesitatingly  reply  to  this  question  in  the  negative.  But 
we  are  by  no  means  disposed  to  admit  this  principle.  It  has 
the  sanction  of  Bishop  Marsh  and  many  other  writers,  but  its 
advocacy  was  simply  a  reaction  from  the  opposite  extreme  of 
the  Cocceian  and  Hutchinsonian  schools  of  interpreters;  and 
calmer  views  of  the  subject  are  leading  us  back  into  the  middle 
path,  in  which,  here  as  well  as  almost  everywhere  else,  it  is 
best  to  tread.  If  we  look  at  the  persons,  such  as  Melchizedek, 
Moses,  David,  and  Jonah ;  or  at  the  events,  such  as  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt ;  or  at  the  things,  such  as 
the  ark  of  Noah,  and  the  brazen  serpent,  which  are  referred  to 
by  the  sacred  writers  as  types ;  we  can  scarcely  suppose  that 
they  intended  these  only  to  be  regarded  as  such,  but  rather  that 
they  mention  them  as  specimens ;  and  certainly,  if,  as  St  Peter 

'  Gen.  ix.  6.  In  all  heathendom  human  life  is  deemed  of  little  value  ;  and 
hence  wholesale  massacres  of  their  subjects  take  place  by  the  command  of 
kings  and  princes,  sometimes  to  gratify  their  revenge,  and  often,  as  in 
Dahomey  and  elsewhere,  in  accordance  with  ancient  customs.  How  much  wo 
owe  to  Judaism  and  to  Christianity ! 


CHRIST  THE  REFUGE.  261 

tells  us,  the  ark  of  Noah  was  a  figure  of  Christ,  the  cities  of 
refuge  may  be  considered  as  such. 

For 'what  is  the  position  of  a  sinner?  It  is  that  of  one  who 
is  guilty  of  innumerable  sins,  and  whom  the  law,  just  and  inex- 
orable, follows  with  its  threats  of  vengeance,  demanding  nothing 
less  than  blood  for  blood.  What  can  he  do  ?  He  cannot  turn 
round  and  face  the  law,  and  plead  that  his  offences  were  unde- 
signed ;  for  many  of  them  were  not,  but  were  premeditated  and 
deliberate.  And  even  for  sins  of  ignorance  the  law  asks  for 
satisfaction,  and  will  not  listen  to  the  plea  that  its  requirements 
were  not  known.  In  this  condition  he  hears  the  angel  of  mercy 
crying  to  him,  '  Escape  for  thy  life,  look  not  behind  thee,  neither 
stay  thou  in  all  the  plain ;  escape  to  the  mountain,  lest  thou  be 
consumed;'  and  he  is  pointed  to  Christ  Jesus,  the  great  High 
Priest  of  the  New  Testament  economy,  whose  death  atoned  not 
only  for  unpremeditated  violations  of  the  law,  but  for  sins  of 
the  most  deUberate  nature ;  and  in  Him  he  is  assured  he  will 
find  a  hiding-place.  Claiming  Christ  as  his  substitute,  who  for 
him  has  satisfied  the  law's  demands,  and  for  him  has  entered 
into  the  holiest  place,  and  for  him  presents  the  all-prevalent 
intercession,  he  is  safe — safe  from  the  accusations  of  a  guilty 
conscience,  safe  from  the  threatening  of  the  avenging  sword. 

That  the  Israelites,  as  a  people,  viewed  the  cities  of  refuge 
in  this  light,  and  saw  in  them  types  of  a  better  refuge  than  one 
which  was  merely  temporary,  we  do  not  affirm;  but,  as  the 
whole  of  the  Mosaic  institute  was  of  a  typical  character,  we  can- 
not doubt  that  the  more  pious  portion  of  them  did  discern 
through  the  veil  a  deeper  meaning,  and,  conscious  of  their  need 
of  a  place  of  rest  and  safety  for  the  soul,  reposed  by  faith  on 
the  promised  Saviour — the  Prophet  like  unto  Moses,  the  Priest 
like  unto  Melchizedek— who  was  afterwards  to  appear.  Moses, 
in  his  final  address  to  Israel,  said,  '  The  eternal  God  is  thy  re- 
fuse, and  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arras:  and  He  shall 


262  THE  LEVITICAL  CITIES. 

thrust  out  the  enemy  from  before  thee,  and  shall  say,  Destroy 
them.'^  And  how  often  David  spoke  of  God  as  his  refuge,  the 
language  of  several  of  his  Psalms  testifies.  '  The  Lord  also  will 
be  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed,  a  refuge  in  times  of  trouble.  And 
they  that  know  Thy  name  will  put  their  trust  in  Thee :  for  Thou, 
Lord,  hast  not  forsaken  them  that  seek  Thee.'^  Had  he  these 
cities  of  refuge  in  view  when  he  thus  spake  ?  Did  he  think,  in 
particular,  of  Hebrdn,  the  royal  city,  and  of  the  fugitives  who 
frequently  repaired  thither  from  the  pursuit  of  the  blood-avenger  ? 
It  is  possible,  and  not  improbable ;  and  if  so,  to  David  and  to 
others  like-minded,  both  before  him  and  after  him,  these  cities 
would  be  looked  upon  with  special  interest ;  and  when  they  visited 
them  they  would  say,  Here  lias  many  a  poor  refugee  found  vshelter 
and  repose ;  but  in  God,  and  in  the  Christ  to  be  revealed,  thou- 
sands have  found  that  rest  from  sin,  and  that  spiritual  repose, 
without  which  the  soul  must  ultimately  sink  and  die. 

But,  in  whatever  light  the  Israelites  viewed  the  cities  of  re- 
fuge, to  us  they  present  lessons  of  the  deepest  interest,  which  we 
shall  do  well  to  ponder.  They  tell  us  of  the  breadth  and  ma- 
jesty of  the  law  of  God,  which  requires  satisfaction  even  for  sins 
of  ignorance,  or  for  sins  committed  unintentionally ;  so  that  for 
such  sins  an  atonement  must  be  offered,  as  well  as  for  sins  of  a 
more  flagrant  character.  They  tell  us,  therefore,  of  the  sinner's 
need  of  a  hiding-place  from  the  angel  of  wrath,  who  is  abroad,  as 
of  old,  executing  vengeance  on  transgressors — a  hiding-place  in 
which  he  can  hear  of  one  who  has  borne  the  penalty  of  his  sin,  and 
to  which  he  can  appeal,  and  say,  '  Here  is  my  Substitute ;  spare 
me  for  His  sake.'  To  every  guilty  one  they  cry.  Flee!  flee!  tarry 
not,  but  flee,  lest  the  avenger  overtake  thee,  and  thou  art  slain ; 
and  they  intimate  that  such  a  hiding-place  as  the  sinner  needs  has 
been  provided,  and  to  that  hiding-place  they  urge  him  to  repair. 

Then  comes  in  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  here 

*  Deut.  xxxiii.  27.  2  pj,.  j^.  9,  10 ;  comp.  Ps.  Ivii.  1,  Ixii.  7,  etc. 


THE  SINNER  AND  THE  SAVIOUR.  263 

the  true  city  of  refuge  stands  before  the  sinner  more  conspicuously 
than  did  Hebron,  or  Shechem,  or  Kadesh  to  the  homicide,  invit- 
ing him  to  enter  and  find  rest  and  peace.  It  is  not  the  church, 
it  is  not  the  altar ;  it  is  Christ  Himself  who  is  the  one  and  only 
sacrifice  for  sin,  and  therefore  the  one  and  only  hiding-place  to 
which  the  sinner  can  repair.  A  man  under  the  condemnation  of 
the  law  may  fly  to  a  sacred  building,  or  may  rush  to  the  altar  as 
the  holiest  place  in  it  (and  time  was  when  human  laws  would  not 
touch  him  whilst  he  was  there) ;  but  the  law  of  God  pays  no 
respect  to  sacred  edifices  or  to  consecrated  shrines,  and  were  a 
man  to  die  at  the  very  foot  of  the  altar  ere  he  had  found  his  way 
to  Christ,  his  sins  would  rest  upon  his  head,  and  for  those  sins 
he  would  have  to  give  account.  In  no  place,  person,  or  thing 
— in  no  buildings,  sacrifices,  or  rites,  is  there  any  refuge  for  the 
guilty,  save  the  atonement  of  the  cross ;  but  there  such  a  refuge 
is  provided  as  will  meet  the  case  of  sinners  of  every  class,  not 
excepting  the  wilful  murderer  himself. 

And  once  in  this  city  of  refuge,  the  refugee  must  never  leave 
it,  but  must  make  it  his  abiding  home.  For  our  High  Priest 
never  dies.  He  died  unto  sin  once ;  but  He  now  lives  unto  God 
for  ever.  All,  then,  who  repair  to  Him  must  dwell  in  Him  con- 
tinually; and,  indeed,  if  they  are  right-minded,  they  will  have 
no  desire  to  forsake  Him  for  a  moment.  More  and  more  closely 
will  they  cleave  to  Him.  Nearer  and  yet  nearer  will  they  strive 
to  walk  with  Him.  The  world,  home,  friend,  will  have  no  attrac- 
tions for  them,  compared  with  those  of  their  best  and  truest 
Friend ;  and  with  holy  hope  and  joy  will  they  anticipate  their  re- 
moval from  this  world  of  toil,  because  they  will  then  be  for  ever 
u'ith  their  Lord. 

'  Then,  onward  yet  a  step,  thou  hard-worn  soul. 

Though  in  the  Church  thou  know  thy  place, 

The  mountain  farther  lies — there  seek  thy  goal, 

Thei-e  breathe  at  large,  o'erpast  thy  dangerous  race. 


^^^l|i 


JOSHUA'S  LAST  CHAEGE. 


CHAPTER   XYIII. 


THE  LATER  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA 


ffT  is  ever  pleasant  to  contemplate  the  close  of  a  goo-d  and 
great  man's  life.  For  though  in  many  instances  it  is 
spent  in  comparative  rtjtireraent,  yet  there  is  generally 
something  connected  with  it  which  speaks  both  of  the  past  and 
of  the  future,  which  tells  us  of  the  blessedness  of  such  a  life,  and 
which  assures  us  of  the  fidelity  of  Him  who  has  said,  '  I  will 
never  leave  .thee  nor  forsake  thee.'  The  last  days  of  Jacob  "^re 
calm  and  beautiful  as  the  summer's  setting  sun ;  the  death  of 
Moses,  though  unseen  by  man,  was  like  the  entrance  of  a  con- 
queror into  a  royal  city ;  and  the  close  of  Joshua's  career  was 
worthy  of  his  former  life — the  going  home  of  a  victor  crowned. 
How  eventful  had  the  Hfe  of  Joshua  been  !     He  had  shared 


DISMISSAL  OF  THE  REUBENITES.  265 

the  bondage  of  his  people  in  the  land  of  Mizraira ;  he  had  wit- 
nessed their  deliverance  from  the  oppressor's  hand ;  he  had  passed 
with  them  through  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  on  dry  ground ; 
he  had  heard  the  law  given  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  had  seen  the 
manifestation  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord ;  he  had  journeyed  through 
the  wilderness  with  the  ransomed  host;  he  had  seen  Miriam, 
Aaron,  and  Moses  taken  from  their  midst ;  he  had  left  behind 
him,  in  the  desert,  the  bones  of  a  whole  generation  of  his  people  ; 
he  had  crossed  the  Jordan,  he  had  conquered  Canaan,  he  had 
driven  out  thousands  of  its  godless  tribes ;  he  had  divided  the 
land  by  lot  among  the  Israelites,  and  had  witnessed,  in  part,  their 
settlement  on  the  soil ;  and  now  what  more  remained  for  him  to 
see  or  do  ?  He  had  accompKshed,  if  ever  man  did,  the  great 
mission  of  his  life  ;  now  therefore  he  might  retire  with  satisfaction 
from  the  busy  scenes  of  hfe,  and  wait  until  his  Lord  should  call 
hie  to  his  rest. 

But  ere  we  come  to  his  very  last  days,  there  are  some  other 
events  which  demand  attention,  the  record  of  which  occupies  the 
whole  of  the  twenty-second  chapter.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  Keubenites,  the  Gadites,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh  had 
accompanied  their  brethren  over  Jordan  to  aid  them  in  the  con- 
quest of  the  land,  but  with  the  express  understanding,  that  after- 
wards they  should  return  to  the  possessions  granted  them  on  the 
east.^  And  now,  having  fulfilled  their  engagements,  they  were 
dismissed  by  Joshua  with  this  address  of  commendation :  '  Ye 
have  kept  all  that  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  commanded 
you,  and  have  obeyed  my  voice  in  all  that  I  commanded  you  : 
Ye  have  not  left  your  brethren  these  many  days  unto  this  day, 
but  have  kept  the  charge  of  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  your 
God.  And  now  the  Lord  your  God  hath  given  rest  unto  your 
brethren,  as  He  promised  them  :  therefore  now  return  ye,  and  get 
you  unto  your  tents,  and  unto  the  land  of  your  possession,  which 
I  Num.  xxxii.  1-42 :  Josh.  iv.  12. 


266  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lokd,  gave  you  on  the  other  side 
Jordan.'  This  was  high  praise,  but  these  auxihary  troops,  as 
they  have  been  called,  fully  merited  it ;  and  to  them  it  must  have 
been  gratifying  beyond  measure  to  receive  from  their  illustrious 
commander  such  approving  words.  History  furnishes  some 
striking  parallels.  It  has  been  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of 
many  an  eminent  military  general,  at  the  close  of  an  arduous 
campaign,  to  dismiss  a  portion  of  his  forces,  and  to  send  them 
back  to  their  country  and  their  friends  with  the  highest  commen- 
dations of  their  bravery  and  their  heroism;  and,  to  a  soldier, 
this  is  an  honour  of  which  he  is  justly  proud ;  and  though  he 
returns,  perhaps,  laden  with  scarsj  or  with  a  mutilated  body,  yet 
the  thought  of  having  done  his  duty  to  his  country,  and  of  re- 
ceiving the  approbation  of  his  commander  and  his  sovereign, 
compensates  him,  to  some  extent,  for  all  he  has  endured. 

But  Joshua  was  careful  to  add  a  word  of  instruction  to  these 
auxiharies  :  '  Take  diligent  heed,'  said  he,  *  to  do  the  command- 
ment, and  the  law,  which  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  charged 
you,  to  love  the  Lord  your  God,  and  to  walk  in  all  His  ways,  and 
to  keep  His  commandments,  and  to  cleave  unto  Him,  and  to 
serve  Him  with  all  your  heart,  and  with  all  your  soul.'  Such 
advice  was,  no  doubt,  necessary  ;  for,  isob.ted  as  they  would  be 
from  their  brethren,  these  two  tribes  and  a  half  would  be  specially 
exposed  to  the  danger  of  forgetting  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers, 
and  of  assuming  an  independent  attitude  even  in  matters  of  a 
rehgious  nature.  Even  the  flowing  of  a  river,  and  that  not  a 
very  large  one,  between  one  territory  and  another,  has  tended, 
not  a  Uttlp,  to  distinguish  the  inhabitants,  and  to  foster  among 
them  differences  of  opinion  both  in  politics  and  rehgion.  This 
word  of  exhortation,  then,  was  valuable,  and  with  it,  and  his 
blessing,  Joshua  sent  them  away ;  *  and  they  went  unto  their 
tents.' 

The  word  tents  is  here  used  for  houses ;  for  they  had  left  their 


PERIOD  OF  THEIR  RETURN.  267 

families  in  walled  cities,  and  therefore  not  in  tents.^  It  has  been 
supposed  by  some,  that  the  22d  chapter  is  an  interpolation  ;  and 
by  others,'  that  the  event  is  not  related  in  chronological  order.  But 
without  this  chapter  the  history  would  evidently  be  incomplete  ; 
and  whether  the  return  of  these  tribes  took  place  now  or  at  an 
earlier  period,  is  a  matter  of  no  moment ;  and,  as  one  observes, 
'  even  if  they  did  return  at  an  earlier  period,  the  account  of  their 
return  would  be  in  its  right  place  here,  because  it  was  proper 
for  the  historian  to  relate  everything  which  belonged  to  the  sub- 
jugation and  occupation  of  the  land,  before  he  allowed  the  thread 
of  his  narrative  to  be  broken  by  descriptions  of  other  events.'^ 
At  the  same  time,  we  see  no  reason  for  the  opinion  that  the  event 
is  not  narrated  in  chronological  order.  It  is  more  probable  that 
these  troops  would  remain  in  the  land  until  after  its  division 
among  the  several  tribes,  than  that  they  would  be  dismissed  pre- 
viously, as  their  presence  might  be  necessary  to  prevent  the 
rising  up  again  of  the  yet  unconquered  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
Their  return  must  have  been  a  somewhat  imposing  sight,  and 
must  have  been  witnessed  by  their  brethren  with  no  little  interest. 
Their  number  was  about  fifty  thousand ;  and  as  rank  after  rank 
and  file  after  file  crossed  the  Jordan,  now  no  doubt  at  its  lowest 
ebb,  and  wended  their  way  on  the  opposite  banks  towards  the 
mountains  of  Bashan,  many  who  remained  on  the  western  banks 
would  watch  them  until  they  were  lost  to  sight,  and  they  them- 
selves would  bid  adieu  to  their  friends,  not  perhaps  without  regret, 
and  yet  full  of  joy  and  hope  at  the  prospect  of  a  reunion  with 
their  wives  and  children.  And  what  scenes  would  be  witnessed 
when  they  reached  their  homes  !  Weather-beaten  and  sun-burnt, 
they  would  present  to  their  friends  a  singular  appearance  ;  and 
not  without  difficulty,  perhaps,  would  the  parties  be  able  to  re- 
cognise one  another.     We  remember  witnessing  the  landing  on 

^  Num.  xxxii.  17. 

2  Lightfoot,  quoted  by  KeiL  '  Commentary  on  Joshua,'  p.  460,  note. 


268  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

our  shores  of  a  regiment  of  soldiers  who  had  survived  the  perils 
of  the  Crimean  war ;  and  we  remember  seeing  them  drawn  up 
soon  after  in  the  barrack-yard,  the  gates  thrown  open,  and  many 
of  their  wives  and  children  rushing  in  to  welcome  them.  But 
so  altered  were  they  in  their  appearance, — their  faces  being  un- 
shaven, and  their  aspect  jaded  and  forlorn, — that  in  several  in- 
stances some  time  elapsed  ere  they  were  recognised  even  by 
those  who  before  had  known  them  best.  But  a  joyous  meeting 
it  was  at  length ;  and  the  big  tear  started  that  day  from  many 
a  brave  soldier's  eye  as  he  clasped  his  loved  ones  to  his  embrace 
again.  The  sacred  writer  tells  us  of  nothing  of  this  kind,  nor 
does  he  even  refer  to  the  meeting  of  these  soldiers  with  their 
friends.  But  imagination  may  be  allowed  to  picture  to  itself 
the  scene ;  and  we  cannot  doubt  that  to  many  and  many  a 
heart  it  would  be  a  joyous  one  indeed. 

Not  without  a  share  in  the  spoil  did  the  Reubenites  return 
to  their  possessions,  but  '  with  much  riches,  with  very  much 
cattle,  with  silver,  with  gold,  with  brass,  with  iron,  and  with 
very  much  raiment.'  They  had  taken  part  in  the  conquest  of 
the  country,  and  it  was  but  right  that  they  should  have  part  of 
the  property  of  the  Canaanites  ;  but  Joshua  requested  that  they 
would  share  this  booty  with  their  brethren  who  had  remained  at 
home, — thus  following  the  example  of  Moses,  who,  after  the 
defeat  of  the  Midianites,  ordered  the  people  to  divide  the  spoil 
into  two  equal  parts,  one  of  which  was  to  be  given  to  those  who 
took  part  in  the  war,  and  the  other  to  those  who  quietly  re- 
mained within  the  camp.^  This  was  equitable  in  both  cases ; 
for  those  who  tarried  at  home  did  so  to  take  care  of  the  women 
and  the  children,  and  therefore  they  also  had  a  right  to  a  portion 
of  the  booty.  So  said  David  at  a  later  period : — '  As  his  part  is 
that  goeth  down  to  the  battle,  so  shall  his  part  be  that  tarrieth 
by  the  stuff,  they  shall  part  alike.     And  it  was  so  from  that 

'  Num.  xxxi.  25,  etc. 


THE  ERECTION  OF  AN  ALTAR.  2G9 

day  forward,  that  lie  made  it  a  statute  and  an  ordinance  for 
Israel  unto  this  day.'  The  statute  of  David,  however,  was  evi- 
dently founded  upon  the  earlier  commands  of  Moses  and  of 
Joshua. 

But  now  an  act  of  the  Reubenites,  in  itself  perfectly  justifi- 
able, though  apparently  far  otherwise,  caused  no  little  anxiety 
to  Joshua  and  the  people.  On  their  way  to  their  own  terri- 
tories, they  erected,  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  a  large  and 
imposing  altar — '  a  great  altar  to  see  to ;'  hearing  of  which,  the 
children  of  Israel  gathered  themselves  together  at  Shiloh,  ajid 
proposed  to  make  war  against  their  brethren.  But  were  they 
not  in  haste,  and  ought  they  not  first  to  have  inquired  into  the 
motives  of  their  brethren  ?  Some  acts  may  be  right  or  may 
be  wrong,  according  to  the  principle  which  leads  to  their  per- 
formance ;  and  the  erection  of  the  altar,  as  afterwards  appeared, 
was  dictated  by  the  purest  motives.  But  the  law  which  forbade 
the  erection  of  more  than  one  altar  for  sacrifices  was  express  ;^ 
and  it  was  to  punish  the  Reubenites  for  a  supposed  violation  of 
this  law  that  the  Israelites  proposed  to  make  war  upon  them. 
'  For  they  truly  and  wisely  judged,'  says  Calvin,  '  that  the  lawful 
sanctuary  of  God  was  polluted,  and  His  worship  profaned  ;  that 
sacred  things  were  violated,  pious  concord  destroyed,  and  a  door 
opened  for  the  license  of  superstitious  practices,  if  in  two  places 
victims  were  offered  to  God,  who  had,  for  these  reasons,  so 
solemnly  bound  the  people  to  a  single-  altar.  Not  rashly,  there- 
fore, do  the  ten  tribes,  on  hearing  of  a  profane  altar,  detest  its 
sacrilegious  audacity.' 

With  whom,  and  in  what,  then,  lay  the  error  ?  Doubtless 
with  the  builders  of  the  altar,  who  ought  to  have  consulted  the 
high  priest,  and  to  have  considered  not  only  what  was  lawful, 
but  what  was  also  expedient.  Well-nigh  had  their  want  of 
forethought  brought  them  into  great  distress.     The  sword  was 

1  Lev.  xvii.  8,  etc. ;  Deut.  xii.  4  and  13,  etc. 


270  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

already  drawn ;  and  but  for  the  wise  precaution  and  the  brotherly 
regard  of  the  ten  tribes,  thousands  of  the  Reubenites  would  have 
been  put  to  death.  But  Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar  the  high 
priest,  together  with  ten  princes,  one  of  each  tribe,  were  sent  to 
inquire  into  the  conduct  of  their  brethren,  and  to  remonstrate 
with  them  on  account  of  their  supposed  rebellion.  Observe 
them !  They  cross  the  Jordan,  following  in  the  track  of  the  two 
tribes  and  a  half ;  they  arrive  in  the  land  of  Gilead ;  and, 
probably,  to  the  great  surprise  of  many,  present  themselves 
before  the  chiefs  and  elders  of  the  people.  And  how  severe  is 
their  address  !  '  What  trespass,'  say  they,  '  is  this  that  ye  have 
committed  against  the  God  of  Israel,  to  turn  away  this  day  from 
followiug  the  Lord,  in  that  ye  have  builded  you  an  altar,  that 
ye  might  rebel  this  day  against  the  Lord  V  And  referring  to 
the  guilt  and  punishment  which  the  people  brought  upon  them- 
selves in  the  wilderness  when  they  went  after  Baal-Peor,  and 
again  to  the  consequences  of  Achan's  sin  when  he  took  of  the 
accursed  thing,  they  ask  whether  these  acts  of  transgression  and 
their  results  were  not  enough,  but  that  they  must  again  rebel 
against  the  Lord,  and  provoke  Him  to  be  angry  with  His  people. 
So  serious  a  charge  might  have  been  resented  by  the  Reu- 
benites with  indignation,  and  they  might  have  refused  to  give 
an  explanation  of  their  conduct.  They  doubtless  saw,  however, 
that  this  would  be  unwise  and  dangerous ;  and  hence  they 
answered  mildly,  that  their  motive  was  not  to  erect  an  altar  of 
sacrifice,  and  thus  to  contravene  the  Mosaic  statute,  but  merely 
to  raise  an  altar  of  witness,  that  in  time  to  come  the  descendants 
of  the  ten  tribes  might  not  be  able  to  ask  their  descendants  what 
they  had  to  do  with  the  Lord  their  God,  seeing  that  they  were 
separated  by  the  river  Jordan.  That  altar — a  pattern  of  the 
altar  reared  at  Shiloh — was  to  be  a  witness  between  the  ten 
tribes  on  the  western  side  of  the  river,  and  the  two  tribes  and 
a  half  on  the  eastern  side,  that  the  latter  had  an  equal  right  with 


THE  KEUBENITES'  ERROR.  271 

the  former  to  claim  Jehovah  as  their  God,  and  that  they  were  not 
a  separate  and  distinct  people,  but  belonged  to  Israel,  though 
the  river  was  between  them.  *  This  anxiety  was  not  altogether 
uncalled  for.  In  all  the  promises,  only  Canaan,  the  land  on  this 
side  of  the  Jordan,  had  been  mentioned  as  the  land  which 
Jehovah  would  give  to  His  people  for  an  inheritance;  and, 
therefore,  at  some  future  period  it  would  be  easy  for  the  false 
inference  to  be  drawn,  that  only  the  Israelites  who  dwelt  in 
Canaan  proper  belonged  to  the  people  of  Jehovah,  and  none 
but  they  had  part  in  Jehovah.'^  We  cannot,  then,  blame  the 
Keubenites  for  erecting  this  altar.  They  had  no  desire  to  rebel 
against  the  Lord,  by  building  an  altar  for  burnt-oflferings  or 
for  sacrifices  in  addition  to  the  altar  that  was  before  the  taber- 
nacle ;  but  the  thought  of  being  hereafter  cut  off  from  Israel 
and  from  Israel's  God  they  could  not  bear,  and  they  had,  there- 
fore, reared  this  altar  to  be  a  perpetual  sign  of  their  relationship 
to  their  brethren. 

This  explanation  was  highly  satisfactory  to  Phinehas  and 
the  princes,  and  not  less  so  to  the  children  of  Israel,  to  whom 
the  matter  was  reported  on  the  return  of  Phinehas  and  his 
companions.  All  thought  of  war  was  relinquished,  and  the 
people  blessed  God ;  for  they  were  thankful  to  find  that  they  had 
misunderstood  the  motives  of  the  Reubenites,  and  that  there  was 
no  real  cause  of  difference  between  them. 

The  altar  was  called  by  the  Reubenites  and  Gadites  'a 
witness  between  us  that  Jehovah  is  God.' 2  But  where  did  it 
stand?  On  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  or  on  the  west?  Many 
would  reply,  without  hesitation.  On  the  east;  but  if  it  was 
to  be  a  witness  that  the  tribes  on  the  eastern  side  had  a 
part  with  those  on  the  western  side,  why  should  it  be  erected 

*  Keil  in  loco. 

2  The  word,  Ed,  ly  (introduced  into  our  version  in  verse  44),  is  not  found 
sither  in  the  Septuagint  or  the  Vulgate,  and  is  probably  an  interpolation. 


272  THE  LAST  YEAES  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

there  ?  Obviously  the  end  would  be  accomplished  better  by 
the  altar  being  erected  on  the  same  side  of  the  Jordan  as 
that  on  which  the  ten  tribes  remained ;  for  then,  those  on  the 
opposite  side  could  say,  '  See,  here  is  the  ^altar  we  erected 
whilst  yet  we  were  on  your  side  of  the  river.'  And,  accordingly, 
it  is  said  in  ver.  10,  that  the  Reubenites  built  the  altar  when,  on 
their  way  to  their  possessions,  '  they  came  unto  the  borders  of 
Jordan.'  Nor  does  ver.  11  contradict  this  view,  which  says, 
that  '  the  altar  was  over  against  the  land  of  Canaan  ;'  for  '  these 
words,'  as  Keil  observes,  '  are  spoken  from  the  stand-point  of 
those  who  built  the  altar,  viz.,  the  tribes  who  lived  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Jordan. 

To  the  mind  of  Joshua  himself  the  settlement  of  this  dispute 
must  have  given  great  relief.  He  was  now  '  old  and  stricken 
in  age  ;'  his  work  was  nearly  done ;  and  he  was  looking  forward 
to  the  day  when  he  should  lay  down  his  important  charge,  and 
be  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  the  spirit-land.  True,  he  lived 
some  years  after  this  event ;  for  it  is  said  that  '  a  long  time 
after  that  the  Lord  had  given  rest  unto  Israel  from  their  enemies 
round  about,'  he  called  for  the  elders  and  gave  them  his  fare- 
well address.  But  at  whatever  period  of  his  life  the  occurrence 
took  place  at  which  we  have  now  glanced,  it  would  give  him 
great  satisfaction  to  know  that  the  tribes  on  both  sides  the 
Jordan  were  one  in  sentiment  and  heart ;  and  he  would  look 
forward  to  the  hour  of  his  departure  with  the  hope  that  one 
they  would  remain. 

Passing  over  the  years  of  interval,  respecting  which  we  have 
no  record,  we  now  come  to  contemplate  another  of  those  touching 
scenes  which  the  sacred  narrative  depicts.  Affecting  was  the 
last  interview  of  Jacob  with  his  sons,  of  Joseph  with  his  bre- 
thren, of  Aaron  with  Moses  and  Eleazar,  and  of  Moses  with  the 
people  whom  he  had  brought  up  out  of  Egypt.  Scarcely  less  so 
was  this  of  Joshua  with  the  elders  of  Israel,  at  which  we  must 


Joshua's  intervieav  avitii  the  elders.        273 

now  look.  What  a  picture  for  the  artist's  pencil !  There  is  the 
venerable  form  of  the  heroic  soldier  to  whom,  under  God,  the 
people  owe  the  conquest  of  the  land, — the  last  link,  Caleb  only 
excepted,  of  the  generation  who  had  come  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt ;  and  around  him  are  gathered  the  heads  of  the  tribes, 
to  listen  once  more  to  his  sage  counsel  and  advice.  Eleazar 
the  high  priest  is  there,  and  Phinehas  his  son;  and  doubtless 
Caleb  is  there,  in  his  green  old  age,  and  perhaps  Othniel,  with 
many  others.  And  Joshua  addresses  them ;  and,  reminding  them 
of  what  God  has  done  for  them,  exhorts  them  to  courage  and 
to  constancy,  and  warns  them  of  the  consequences  of  departing 
from  the  Lord,  and  especially  of  intermarrying  with  the  remnant 
of  the  nations  round  about  them.  Chap,  xxiii.  1-13.  '  Behold,' 
he  says,  '  this  day  I  am  going  the  way  of  all  the  earth ;  and  ye 
know  in  all  your  hearts,  and  in  all  your  souls,  that  not  one  thing 
hath  failed  of  all  the  good  things  which  the  Lord  your  God 
spake  concerning  you ;  all  are  come  to  pass  unto  you,  and  not 
one  thing  hath  failed  thereof.'  '  To-day,'  as  if  he  had  said,  '  I 
am  looking  forward  to  my  decease.  But  be  consoled  and  com- 
forted ,by  the  recollection  that  all  God's  promises  to  you  have 
been  fulfilled,  and  that,  though  I  am  taken  from  you,  He  will  still 
be  your  protector  and  your  God  if  you  obey  Him.  But  as  He 
has  proved  Himself  true  to  His  promises,  so  also,  if  you  depart 
from  Him,  will  He  certainly  fulfil  His  threatenings.'  Memorable 
and  never-to-be-forgotten  words  !  They  were  indicative  of  the 
paternal  soUcitude  of  Joshua  for  his  people.  Like  the  father  of 
a  family  who  is  anxious  for  his  children's  welfare  after  his  depar- 
ture, Joshua  was  desirous  that  when  he  was  numbered  with  the 
dead,  the  Israelites  should  still  possess  the  approving  smile  of 
Heaven.  Could  he  but  indulge  this  hope,  he  would  die  in  greater 
peace. 

But  this  was  not  the  last  interview  of  Joshua  with  the  elders. 
At  a  little  later  period  he  summoned  them  to  Sheehera,  to  a 

s 


274  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

solemn  renewal  of  the  covenant  before  the  Lord.  Shechem,  and 
not  Shiloh,  was  chosen  for  this  event,  because  it  stood  between 
the  mountains  Ebal  and  Gerizim,  where  the  covenant  was  first 
renewed,  soon  after  they  had  entered  Canaan.  The  same  spot 
was  to  be  the  witness  of  the  last  renewal  of  the  covenant  before 
Joshua's  death,  which  had  witnessed  the  first  renewal  of  it  after 
he  had  become  the  successor  of  Moses. 

There  was,  probably,  a  larger  assembly  on  this  occasion  than 
on  the  former  one ;  and  from  the  expression,  '  They  presented 
themselves  before  the  Lord ' — chap.  xxiv.  1 — many  have  supposed 
that  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  brought  from  Shiloh  to  Shechem, 
that  the  transaction  might  be  performed  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  and  m  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah 
Himself.^  And  what  said  Joshua  to  the  elders  on  this  occasion  ? 
He  reviewed  G  od's  mercies  to  His  people  from  the  call  of  Abra- 
ham, who,  together  with  his  family,  was  originally  an  idolater, 
dwelling  in  TJr  of  the  Chaldees,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river 
Euphrates.  This  was  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  acts  by  which 
God  had  displayed  a  special  regard  for  the  Israelites.  Abraham 
He  had  conducted  through  the  land  of  Canaan,  promising  that 
his  seed  should  afterwards  inherit  it.  To  him  He  had  given 
Isaac,  and  to  Isaac,  Jacob  and  Esau.  To  Esau  Mount  Seir  w^as 
assigned  for  a  possession ;  but  Jacob  and  his  family  went  down 
to  Egypt.  In  Egypt  Moses  and  Aaron  were  raised  up,  and  the 
plagues  having  devastated  the  land,  the  descendants  of  the  patri- 
archs were  set  free  from  Pharaoh's  yoke.  The  Egyptians  pur- 
sued them,  but  were  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea.  The  wilderness 
became  the.  home  of  the  ransomed  people  for  a  period  of  forty 
years ;  there  the  Amorites  were  conquered ;  there  the  stratagems 
of  Balak  and  of  Balaam  were  defeated ;  and  there  innumerable 
proofs  were  witnessed  both  of  the  goodness  and  the  power  of 
God.     Moreover,  they  had  crossed  the  Jordan  ;  they  had  ob- 

*  See,  however,  Keil,  Hengstenberg,  and  also  Calvin. 


JOSHUA'S  APPEAL.        ~  275 

tained  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  the  hornet  had  driven 
out  their  enemies  before  them ;  and  God  had  given  them  a  land 
for  which  they  did  not  labour,  and  cities  which  they  built  not, 
and  vineyards  and  oliveyards  which  they  planted  not ;  and  now 
they  were  in  possession  of  this  fair  inheritance,  and  could  boast 
of  a  land  which  literally  flowed  with  milk  and  honey.  'Now 
therefore,'  said  Joshua,  '  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  Him  in  sin- 
cerity and  in  truth :  and  put  away  the  gods  which  your  fathers 
served  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood,  and  in  Egypt ;  and  serve 
ye  the  Lord.  And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord, 
choose  you  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve  :  whether  the  gods  which 
your  fathers  served,  that  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood,  or 
the  gods  of  the  Amorites,  in  whose  land  ye  dwell :  but  as  for  me 
and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord.' 

Professedly,  the  Israehtes  ivere  worshippers  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  and  of  Him  only ;  but  in  heart  they  still  clung  to  the 
gods  of  Chaldea  and  of  Egypt,  and  hence  Joshua  here  exhorts 
them  to  serve  the  Lord  in  sincerity  and  truth.  Outward  idolatry 
did  not  exist  among  them  at  this  time,  as  some  have  supposed ; 
for,  if  it  had,  they  would  at  once  have  brought  their  idols  in 
responding  to  Joshua's  appeal,  and  have  destroyed  them.  The 
family  of  Abraham  were  not  gross  idolaters,  but  mingled  with 
the  worship  of  the  true  God  a  regard  to  their  Teraphim  or 
household  gods  (Penates) ;  and  even  in  Egypt  the  one  Supreme 
Being  was  acknowledged,  though  in  connection  with  many 
idolatrous  elements.  What  Joshua  demanded,  then,  was  the 
putting  away  of  all  false  gods  from  their  hearts,  and  the  service  of 
the  One  True  God  in  all  sincerity.  But  it  was  to  be  with  them 
a  matter  of  free  choice;  and  if  it  seemed  evil  to  them  to  serve 
the  Lord,  they  were  that  day  to  decide  whom  they  would  serve— 
the  gods  of  their  fathers  beyond  the  Euphrates,  or  the  gods  of 
the  Amorites,  in  whose  land  they  now  dwelt.  '  The  real  object 
of  Joshua  was  to  renew  and  confirm  the  covenant  which  had 


27G  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

already  been  made  with  God.  Not  without  cause,  therefore, 
does  he  give  them  freedom  of  choice,  that  they  may  not  after- 
wards pretend  to  have  been  under  compulsion,  when  they  bound 
themselves  by  their  own  consent.  Meanwhile,  to  impress  them 
with  a  feeling  of  shame,  he  declares  that  he  and  his  house  will 
persevere  in  the  worship  of  God.'  ^ 

The  people  answered  this  appeal,  and  acknowledging  their 
obligations  to  the  Lord  Jehovah,  solemnly  promised  that  they 
would  serve  Him.  But  merely  human  resolutions  are  very  feeble, 
and  Joshua,  reminding  them  of  the  holiness  of  God,  says,  *  Ye 
cannot,'  in  your  own  strength,  in  your  present  state  of  mind  and 
heart,  and  without  the  help  of  divine  grace,  '  serve  God  :  for  Ho 
is  an  holy  God ;  He  is  a  jealous  God ;  He  will  not  forgive  your 
transgressions  nor  your  sins.  If  ye  forsake  the  Lord,  and  serve 
strange  gods,  then  He  will  turn  and  do  you  hurt,  and  consume 
you,  after  that  He  hath  done  you  good.' 

To  take  a  religious  vow,  to  enter  into  covenant  with  God, 
to  promise  deliberately  allegiance  to  His  throne,  is  a  most  solemn 
and  momentous  act ;  for  God  is  a  jealous  God,  and  requires  of 
all  His  people  unbroken  fidelity  to  their  engagements ;  nor  will 
He  fail  to  visit  with  severity  every  breach  of  promise.  But,  so 
full  of  gratitude  were  the  people  at  this  moment,  that  with  these 
views  of  the  divine  character  before  them,  and  fully  conscious  as 
they  must  have  been  of  the  vast  importance  of  the  transaction, 
they  again  declared  that  they  would  serve  the  Lord,  and  that 
they  were  ready  to  renew  the  covenant  which  Ebal  and  Gerizim 
had  witnessed  long  before. 

It  was  enough.  Joshua  was  satisfied  of  their  sincerity,  and 
that  day  the  covenant  was  renewed  accordingly.  '  Ye  are  wit- 
nesses,' said  Joshua — witnesses,  that  is,  against  yourselves — 
*  that  ye  have  chosen  you  the  Lord,  to  serve  Him.'  And  they 
repUed,  '  We  are  witnesses.'     And  now  the  idols  of  their  heart 

1  Calvin  in  loco ;  comp.  Eeil. 


THE  STONE  OF  WITNESS.  277 

being  put  away,  at  Joshua's  request,  so  that  no  vestige  of  idolatry 
might  remain  amongst  them,  'a  statute  and  an  ordinance'  was 
set  in  Shechem, — a  statute  binding  the  Israelites  to  observe  the 
law,  and  an  ordinance  giving  them  a  title  to  expect  that,  on  this 
condition,  the  Lord  Jehovah  would  be  faithful  to  His  promises. 
And  in  the  book  of  the  law  all  the  transactions  connected  with 
this  ratification  of  the  covenant  were  written  ;  and  then  a  large 
stone  was  set  up  as  a  visible  memorial  of  the  event.  This  stone 
was  set  up  '  under  an  oak  that  was  by  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord ;' 
which  some  interpret,  '  at  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary,  which 
Joshua  had  caused  to  be  brought  with  the  ark  to  Shechem.' 
But  the  sanctuary  here  referred  to  was  none  other  than  the 
spot  which  Abraham  had  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  under  a  venerable  oak,  when  he  passed  through  the 
land  journeying  towards  the  south, ^  and  on  which  Jacob  also 
erected  an  altar,  and  afterwards  buried  all  the  strange  gods  of 
his  household.2  Memorable,  then,  was  that  spot  in  the  history  of 
the  chosen  race,  and  most  fitting  to  be  the  scene  of  this  very 
solemn  and  momentous  engagement.  And  Joshua  said  unto  all 
the  people,  '  Behold,  this  stone  shall  be  a  witness  unto  us  ;  for  it 
hath  heard  all  the  words  of  the  Lord  which  He  spake  unto  us : 
it  shall  therefore  be  a  witness  unto  you,  lest  ye  deny  your  God.' 
In  the  language  of  poetry  things  inanimate  are  often  said  to  see, 
and  hear,  and  speak  ;  and  thus  was  this  stone  said  to  have  heard 
the  words  of  God  ;  and  as  the  people  looked  upon  it,  they  were 
to  remember  that,  if  they  denied  their  Lord,  it  would  be  a  wit- 
ness against  them  of  the  heinousness  of  their  sin. 

Thus  Joshua,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  illustrious  law- 
giver, had  done  everything  in  his  power  to  bind  the  Israehtes  as 
a  people  to  their  God.  And  now  all  that  he  could  do  more  was 
to  dismiss  them  with  his  blessing.  It  was  his  last  public  act, 
and  he  retired  from  that  scene  to  gather  up  his  feet  and  die. 

1  Gen.  xii.  6-8.  '  Gen.  xxxiii.  19,  20,  xxxv.  2-4. 


278  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

Of  the  death-scene  we  have  no  account.  We  know  not  where 
it  occurred,  whether  at  Shiloh  or  at  Shechem,  nor  who  were 
present  to  witness  his  departure  and  to  close  his  eyes.  The 
historian  merely  tells  us  that  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  the  servant 
of  the  Lord,  died,  being  a  hundred  and  ten  years  old  ;  and  that 
they  buried  him  in  the  border  of  his  inheritance  in  Timnath- 
serah,  which  is  in  Mount  Ephraim,  on  the  north  side  of  the  hill 
Gaash.  To  the  inheritance  of  Joshua  reference  has  been  already 
made ;  but  the  sites  of  Timnath-serah  and  the  hill  Gaash  have 
not  been  identified  with  certainty.  Dr  Eli  Smith,  however,  found 
a  hill  called  Tibneh,  covered  with  considerable  ruins,  and  to  the 
south  of  it,  another  hill  with  remarkable  sepulchral  caverns,  eight 
miles  south-east  of  Shiloh,  which  he  supposed  to  be  identical  with 
these  two  spots  ;  ^  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  last  resting- 
place  of  the  illustrious  commander  of  the  Israelites  is  here. 

The  influence  of  Joshua's  example  and  instructions  was  such, 
that  Israel  served  the  Lord  all  his  days,  and  all  the  days  of  the 
elders  that  overlived  him,  who  had  known  the  works  of  the  Lord. 
Like  every  good  man  who  occupies  a  prominent  position  in 
society,  he  left  behind  him  a  bright  track  of  Hght,  in  which  many 
walked  long  after  his  departure.  Of  his  character  we  cannot 
speak  too  highly.  It  is  transparent  as  the  light  itself.  He  was 
indeed  *  strong  and  very  courageous.'  He  feared  no  danger  ;  he 
shrunk  from  no  hardships ;  he  was  deterred  by  no  difficulties. 
Arduous  was  the  enterprise  he  was  called  to  undertake,  and,  to 
human  appearance,  the  barriers  to  its  accomplishment  were  all  but 
insurmountable.  But  Joshua  had  faith  in  God.  Seldom,  if  ever, 
did  his  confidence  in  the  divine  promises  give  way  ;  and  if  it  did, 
under  special  trials,  for  a  moment  waver,  it  rose  again  and  took 
hold  on  the  arm  of  Omnipotence  afresh.  Two  traits  in  his  cha- 
racter are  peculiarly  prominent — his  disinterestedness,  and  his 
fidelity  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him. 

■•  See  Van  de  Velde's  '  Memoir'  and  Map. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  JOSHUA.  279 

Joshua  lived,  not  for  himself,  but  for  his  people.  Unhke 
Alexander  and  other  conquerors  of  the  East,  he  sought  no  glorj, 
was  ambitious  of  no  greatness,  and  aimed  at  no  sinister  purposes 
or  ends.  There  is  not  a  circumstance  in  his  history  which  indi- 
cates that  he  had  any  personal  designs  to  gratify  ;  for,  indeed,  he 
was  too  great  a  man  for  this.  True  greatness  consists  not  in 
aspiring  to  place  and  power,  not  in  the  carrying  out  of  ambitious 
projects,  not  in  trying  to  he  great,  and  wishing  that  the  world  may 
think  us  great;  but  in  lowliness  and  humbleness  of  mind,  and  in  self- 
forgetfulness  for  the  common  good.  Hence  few  of  the  conquerors 
of  the  world — the  Alexanders,  the  Caesars,  the  Attilas,  and  the 
Napoleons,  of  human  fame — were  truly  great,  but  miserably  little. 
But  Joshua  was  great — great  as  a  patriot,  great  as  a  com- 
mander ;  for  his  aim  was  one,  that  of  promoting  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power  the  highest  interests  of  the  people  of  his  charge. 
Let  our  rulers,  our  statesmen,  our  military  commanders,  imbibe 
the  spirit  of  the  noble-minded  Joshua  ;  and,  instead  of  that  hunt- 
ing after  place  which  is  now  so  common  for  the  sake  of  personal 
or  family  aggrandisement,  there  would  be  a  prevalent  desire  to 
lose  sight  of  personal  advantage  for  the  sake  of  the  public  good. 
Nor  would  society  be  in  any  way  a  loser,  for  the  most  disinter- 
ested servant  of  the  state  is  always  its  best  and  most  eflScient 
one. 

Closely  connected  with  this  trait  in  the  character  of  Joshua 
was  his  fidelity  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him.  He  was  not  the 
mere  patriot.  He  was  the  servant  of  the  people  because  he  was 
the  servant  of  their  God.  He  felt  his  responsibihty  to  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  who  had  appointed  him  to  the  charge  of  the  hosts  of 
Israel ;  and  whether  he  pleased  the  Israelites  or  not,  please  the 
Lord  Jehovah  he  must.  Some  men,  through  cowardice  or 
through  fear,  are  no  sooner  placed  in  an  eminent  position  in 
society  by  the  providence  of  God,  than,  to  keep  it,  they  have 
recourse  to  all  kinds  of  mean  and  dishonourable  plans.     Instead 


280  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

of  doing  their  duty,  whatever  it  may  cost  them,  they  conform  to 
custom  and  court  the  favour  and  the  smiles  of  men.  There  was 
nothing  of  this  kind  in  the  conduct  of  Joshua.  To  be  the  idol 
of  the  people  at  any  price,  was  never  his  desire.  His  eye  was 
single,  his  aim  was  one.  He  thought  of  nothing  but  of  fulfilling 
the  task  assigned  to  him,  and  would  sooner  have  laid  down  his 
charge,  and  retired  into  private  life,  than  have  proved  faithless  to 
his  trust  as  the  servant  of  the  Lord  his  God.  Hence  there  was 
no  vacillation  in  his  policy.  He  was  the  same  man  from  the  time 
he  took  the  command  of  the  hosts  of  Israel  to  the  time  that  he 
laid  it  down,  and  he  pursued  one  hne  of  conduct  through  the 
whole  of  his  administration  of  affairs.  If  ever  he  erred,  it  was 
in  judgment  only ;  and  his  errors  were  so  few,  that  they  are  all 
but  lost  amid  the  cluster  of  the  excellences  which  adorn  his 
character.  He  was  a  man  in  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  was,  and 
that  Spirit  he  retained  to  the  close  of  his  long  and  most  eventful 
life. 

It  would  be  easy,  were  we  to  look  back  on  the  history  we 
have  sketched,  to  illustrate  more  fully  these  traits  of  the  charac- 
ter of  this  truly  great  man;  but  we  have  nearly  reached  the 
limits  of  this  volume,  and  the  reader  can  supply  such  illustrations 
for  himself.  There  is  but  one  other  thought  on  which  it  is 
necessary  to  dwell: — Joshua  was,  in  one  respect  at  least,  an 
eminent  type  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  he  conducted  the 
chosen  Israel  into  the  rest  of  the  earthly  Canaan,  so  is  Jesus,  the 
true  Joshua,  leading  the  Christian  Israel  into  the  rest  of  Chris- 
tian hohness  and  of  heaven.  Centuries  after  the  death  of  Joshua, 
the  Psalmist  David  said,  '  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice, 
harden  not  your  hearts.'  And  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  adverting  to  these  words,  says,  *If  Jesus' — that  is, 
Joshua — 'had  given  them  rest,  then  would  he  not  afterwards 
have  spoken  of  another  day.'  That  is,  if  Joshua  had  led  God's 
people  into  tlie  true  rest  provided   for  them,  then  would  not 


JOSHUA  AND  JESUS.  281 

David,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  have  spoken  of 
another  day  or  period  in  which  rest  may  be  obtained.  '  There 
remaineth  therefore,'  is  the  conclusion  of  the  writer,  '  a  sabbath- 
rest  for  the  people  of  God.'^  Under  the  brighter  economy  of 
the  Gospel,  there  is  a  rest  more  true,  more  spiritual,  and  more 
permanent  than  that  of  Canaan, — the  rest  of  peace  and  purity 
on  earth,  the  rest  of  glory  and  of  God  in  heaven.  Yes,  believers 
shall  enter  even  into  the  rest  of  God.  As  He,  when  He  had 
finished  the  work  of  creation,  rested  from  His  works  and  entered 
on  a  sabbath  which  shall  never  end ;  so,  when  they  shall  have 
accomplished  the  task  assigned  them,  shall  they  begin  their 
sabbath-rest,  and  that  sabbath-rest  shall  be  a  rest  in  God  and 
with  God  which  shall  know  no  change  or  end. 

But  who  is  their  conductor  to  that  rest  ?  Who  guides  them 
to  its  entrance  ?  Who  arras  them  for  the  victory  over  the  enemies 
that  assail  them  ?  Who  sustains  them  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  causes  the  waters  to  divide,  and  leads  them  into  the 
promised  land  ?  Jesus  is  their  Joshua ;  and  He  it  is  to  whom 
they  look,  and  on  whom  alone  they  can  depend.  He  is  not  only 
their  Prophet  like  unto  Moses,  and  their  Priest  like  unto  Mel- 
chisedec,  but  their  Captain  like  unto  Joshua ;  and,  enlisted  under 
His  banner.  He  leads  them  on,  *  conquering  and  to  conquer,' 
until  at  length  they  triumph  in  His  name  over  the  last  enemy, 
and  are  admitted  into  the  sabbath-rest  of  the  incorruptible  and 
undefiled  inheritance.  That  inheritance  Moses  entered,  though 
he  saw  the  earthly  Canaan  only  at  a  distance.  That  inheritance 
Joshua  himself  obtained  when  he  bade  adieu  to  his  inheritance 
in  Timnath-heres,  and  laid  him  down  to  die.  And  that  in- 
heritance thousands  now  possess,  out  of  every  nation  under 
heaven;  whilst  thousands  more  are  on  their  journey  thither, -with 
the  bright  prospect  of  immortality  in  their  view.  This  is  the 
sphere  of  toil  and  conflict ;  but  for  every  true  follower  of  Christ 

*    Heb.  iv.  9 " h<>%  iroXiinrxi  a'x^!ixri<ru.\;  ru  Xxi^  toZ  Qiou, 


282  THE  LAST  YEARS  AND  DEATH  OF  JOSHUA. 

there  is  an  abode  of  perfect  rest.  But  each  one  who  gains  that 
rest,  gains  it  not  by  his  own  unaided  skill,  but  by  the  grace  of 
God  in  Christ ;  and  hence  the  song  of  the  redeemed  is  one  '  To 
Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  own 
blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priest  unto  God  and  His 
Father;  to  Him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever 
Amen,'* 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

?AG3 

Abram,  Promise  to  . 

22 

Bethlehem  Ephratah, 

193 

Accursed  Things,     . 

89 

Bethlehem  (Zebulun), 

232 

Achan,  Sin  of  . 

86 

Bethshittah,      . 

222 

Achan,  Children  of 

97 

Bezer,        . 

255 

Achor,  Valley  of      . 

99 

Birth-place,  Joshua's, 

3 

Achsah,     .... 

184 

Buckingham,  quoted,' 

.     24,28 

Adam,  City  of 

55 

Adoni-zedec,     . 

137 

Ai,  City  of        .        .        . 

86,  102 

Caleb,        .         .        . 

.     13,  43,  175 

Ai,  King  of       .         .         . 

109 

Canaan,  Boundaries  of 

202 

Ajalon,  Valley  of     . 

153 

Captain  of  the  Lord's  Hos 

t,      .          69 

Altar  on  Mount  Ebal, 

113 

Chederlaomer, 

150 

Altar  of  the  Keubenites,  . 

269 

Chephirah, 

127 

Amalek,  Battle  with 

7 

Chinneroth,  Plains  of 

157 

Ambassadors,   . 

122 

Christ  the  Refuge,     . 

261 

Ambush,  .... 

105 

Circumcision  renewed. 

62 

Ancestors,  Joshua's 

3 

Covenant  with  the  Gibeo 

aites,         124 

Aphek,      .... 

172 

Covenant  at  Shechem, 

274 

Appeal,  Joshua's 

275 

Covetousness,  Sin  of 

93 

Asher,  Territory  of 

244 

Astronomy,  Modern 

149 

Asyla,       .... 

237 

Dan,  Territory  of     . 

209 

Azubah,    .... 

185 

Dan,  City  of  Northern 

211 

Dante,  quoted, 

45 

Death  of  Joshua, 

278 

Babylonish  Garment, 

92 

Debir, 

157,  183 

Bacon,  Lord,  quoted, 

177 

Deborah, 

221 

Balaam,  Prophecies  of     . 

27-34 

Descender,  The 

57 

Barak,       .... 

221,  241 

Drawers  of  Water,    . 

.        131 

Beeroth,    .... 

127 

Beersheba, 

202 

Benjamin,  Territory  of     . 

215 

Ebal, 

111 

Bethel  (Luz),    . 

195 

Edrei,        .        .        .        . 

30 

Beth-hoglah,     . 

191 

Eglon,       .        .        . 

139,  157 

Beth-horon, 

142 

Ekron,      .        .        .        . 

171 

284 

INDEX. 

PACE 

i 

PAGR 

Elders,  The  Seventy 

11 

Jordan,  Swellings  of 

53 

El-Ghor,  Valley  of  . 

47 

Jordan,  Banks  of      . 

67 

Elishama,         .        .         .        . 

5,10 

Josephus,  quoted,     . 

42, 

etc. 

En-gannim,      .        .        .        . 
Ephraim,  Tribe  of 

227 

Joshua,  The  Name 

12 

5,217 

Jotham,  Parable  of 

223 

Esdraelon,  Plain  of 

227 

Eshtaol, 

205 

Etam,  The  Keck       . 

208 

Keble,  quoted. 

170 

Kedesh,     . 

256 

Keil,  quoted,     . 

!     34 

39 

etc. 

Faith,  Joshua's 

77 

Kenaz, 

183 

Faith,  Eahab's 

46 

Kirjath-jearim, 

128 

Forests, 

71 

Kishon,  The  River 

229 

Kitto,  Dr,  quoted, 

36 

etc. 

Kurtz,  quoted, 

12 

etc. 

Gad,  Tribe  of  . 

25 

Gad,  Character  of     . 

29 

Gad,  Territory. of     . 

28,31 

Lachish 

139 

157 

Gate  of  the  City,       . 

41 

Laish,  Conquest  of  • 

209 

Gerizira, 

111 

Land-surveying, 

201 

Gibeah, 

197 

League  with  the  Gibeonites, 

126 

Gibeon,     .... 

121 

Levites,  Cities  of 

248 

Gibeonites, 

119 

Libnah,     .... 

157 

Gilgal,       . 

.    59,  63 

Lightfoot,  referred  to. 

44 

Gilgal,  Jiljilia, 

120 

Lot,  The           ...     89 

,91 

189 

Goal,  The          .         .         . 

255 

Goshen,  Land  of 

3 

Maccabees,  Times  of  the 

199 

Makkedah,        .        . 

148 

157 

Hailstones, 

143 

Manna,  Cessation  of 

6Q 

Hammath, 

239 

Manasseh,  Inheritance  of 

213 

Hazor,       .         .         .          159, 

167,  239 

Manasseh,  Half-tribe  of  . 

30 

Hebron,     .... 

138,  179 

Memorials, 

61 

Hengstenberg,  quoted, 

.  12,  etc. 

Merom,  Waters  of     . 

159 

161 

Hermon,   .... 

159 

Messengers,  King  of  Jericho's 

37 

Hewers  of  Wood,     . 

131 

Midbar 

193 

Kiel  the  Bethelite,    . 

84 

Miracles,  Object  of  . 

150 

Hotner,  quoted. 

181 

Mizpeh,  Land  of 

159 

Hoshea,  Meaning  of 

4 

Mizpeh,  Valley  of    . 

166 

House  on  the  Wall,  . 

41 

Misrephoth-maim,    . 

165 

Hypocrisy,  Sin  of     . 

125 

Moab,  Land  of 

26 

Huleh,  Lake 

.  52,  240 

Moses,  Descendants  of     . 
Moses,  Death  of 

15 

19 

Moses,  Prophecies  of 

28 

etc. 

Institute,  Levitical  . 

253 

Murmurings,     . 

129 

Interview,  Joshua's 

273 

Issachar,  Territory  of 

228 

Naphtali,  Territory  of 
Nazareth, 

236 
232 

Jabin,      .... 

IGl,  167 

Nether  Springs, 

184 

Jasher,  Book  of 

147 

Nomination,  Joshua's 

17 

Jericho,  City  of 

34 

Jericho,  Siege  of 

51 

Jezreel,      .... 

227 

Oath  of  the  Spies,    . 

39 

Joppa,        .... 

207,  215 

Offerings  of  the  Princes, 

10 

Jordan,  Sources  of   . 

61 

Oshea,  Meaning  of 

. 

12 

IXDEX. 

285 

PAGE 

PACE 

Othniel,    . 

183 

Stones,  Falling  of    . 

144 

Stoning,    .         .         ,         . 

93 

Stewart,  Dr,  quoted, 

191 

Palm-trees, 

71 

Stratagems, 

104 

Passover,  Celebratio 

n  of           .          64 

Spies,  The  Two 

35 

Philo,  quoted,  . 

•       6,  12,  etc. 

Spoil  of  Enemies, 

107 

Phinehas, 

270 

Successions  of  Great  Men, 

19 

Piram, 

137 

Phcenicians, 

163,  243 

Plot,  Discovery  of 

127 

Tabor,  Mount  . 

.         235 

Preparations,    . 

.    47,  73 

Thomson,  Dr,  quoted. 

162,  etc. 

Priests,  Cities  of 

249 

Timnath, 

205,  278 

Prosperity,  Secret  ol 

20 

Type,  Joshua  a 

281 

Purple,  Trade  in 

163 

Tyre,         .... 

245 

Quarantana,  Mounta 

ins  of       .          42 

Ulysses,    .... 

177 

Undesigned  Coincidences, 

35 

Upper  Springs, 

184 

Rahab, 

.      35,  44,  83 

Piamoth-Gilead, 

29 

Ranioth.-Mizpeh, 

255 

Van  de  Velde,  quoted,      . 

.  53,  etc. 

Refuge,  Cities  of 

249 

Voice  of  God, 

145 

Reubenites,  Dismiss^ 

il  of           .         265 

Vows,  Importance  of 

276 

Reubenites,  Territor 

y  of           .           27 

Revenge,  Law  of 

259 

Rizpah,     . 

134 

"Walls  of  Jericho, 

77 

Robinson,  Dr,  quote 

i,       .        .  43,  etc. 

War,  when  Justifiable,     . 

79 

Waters  of  Egypt,      . 

171 

Wedge  of  Gold, 

92 

Salem, 

137 

Wilkinson,  Sir  J.  G.,  quotec 

201 

Samaria  (Sebaste), 

221 

Windows, 

40 

Sarcophagus,    . 

207 

Writing  on  Plaster, 

115 

Scarlet  Cord,     . 

.    39,41 

Seven,  The  Number 

76 

Shechem,  City  of 

219 

Youth  of  Joshua,      . 

4 

Shechem,  Vale  of 

256 

Shihor  Libnath, 

241 

Shittim, 

34 

Zabdi,        .... 

90 

Shoterim,  The 

.    23,47 

Zaretan, 

55 

Sieges,  Remarkable 

73 

Zebulun,  Ten-itory  of 

232 

Simeon,  Territory  o 

201 

Zelophehad,  Daughters  of 

216 

Stanley,  Dr,  quoted, 

.     27,  31,  etc. 

Ziklag,      .... 

202 

Stones,  Memorial 

58,  277 

Zorah,       .... 

205 

THE  END. 


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